Research
Hormonal
Central nervous system leptin signaling regulates energy balance and body weight primarily through the JAK-STAT3 pathway acting on hypothalamic neurons, specifically by activating pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons and inhibiting neuropeptide Y (NPY)/agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons.
Your body produces leptin to signal fullness to your brain. In obesity, this signal often gets ignored (leptin resistance). Simply having high leptin doesn't fix this; the issue is how the brain processes the signal, not the amount of leptin itself.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
Leptin, the polypeptide product of the ob gene, acts on the brain to regulate energy balance... The demonstration of leptin receptors in hypothalamic regions known to play critical roles in regulating energy intake and body weight has produced considerable excitement in the field.
Why this rating
Based on extensive genetic knockout studies (db/db mice, ObRb KO) and consistent in vivo signaling data.
Source
Leptin Signaling in the Central Nervous System and the Periphery
Christian Bjørbæk · Recent Progress in Hormone Research · 2004
DOI 10.1210/rp.59.1.305
narrative_reviewCited 554×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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