Research
Hormonal
Leptin treatment is effective for weight loss only in individuals with congenital leptin deficiency, but offers limited benefit for the vast majority of obese people who have high circulating leptin.
Leptin is a hormone that signals fullness, but most obese people already have high levels of it. Taking leptin supplements does not help them lose weight. It is only effective for a very rare group of people with a specific genetic deficiency. For most, lifestyle changes remain the primary approach.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Treatment of three leptin-deficient children with recombinant leptin has led to a significant reduction in hyperphagia and fat mass... However, the vast majority of obese people have high circulating leptin concentrations... Leptin treatment appears to be safe and well-tolerated, but has been of limited benefit in treating obesity in nonleptin-deficient people.
Why this rating
Based on case studies of leptin-deficient children and general observations of obese populations.
Source
Appetite regulation: from the gut to the hypothalamus
Nicola M. Neary et al. · Clinical Endocrinology · 2003
DOI 10.1046/j.1365-2265.2003.01839.x
narrative_reviewCited 189×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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