Research

Hormonal

AMPK activation suppresses leptin secretion in adipocytes independently of adipogenesis and adipocyte maturity, challenging the view that AMPK's primary benefit is promoting adipose expansion.

While exercise and certain drugs activate AMPK to help store fat healthily, this research highlights that AMPK also directly reduces leptin, a hormone that tells your brain you're full. In obesity, high leptin levels cause resistance. By suppressing leptin secretion, AMPK activation might help restore the body's natural ability to feel full, offering a pathway to treat leptin resistance without just focusing on fat storage.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
In our recent study, using BI-9774 we establish a role for AMPK in the suppression, rather than promotion, of leptin secretion [82], independent of the effects of AMPK activity on adipogenesis.
Alice Pollard · Essays in Biochemistry · 2024

Why this rating

The paper is a review citing specific recent studies (Ref 82) using specific activators (BI-9774), but lacks large-scale clinical trial data for human application.

Source

New concepts in the roles of AMPK in adipocyte stem cell biology

Alice Pollard · Essays in Biochemistry · 2024

DOI 10.1042/ebc20240008

narrative_reviewCited 15×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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