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The skinny on neurotrophins

Nature Neuroscience volume 6, pages 655–656 (2003)Cite this article

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is best known as a regulator of brain development and plasticity. New evidence suggests that BDNF is also a component of the hypothalamic melanocortin pathway that controls body weight in adults.

Obesity and its comorbid illnesses are a leading world health concern1 for which few effective treatments exist. Obesity is increasingly viewed as a disorder of energy homeostasis, a regulatory process that involves hormones such as insulin and leptin that circulate at levels proportionate to body fat content and act on neurons in the hypothalamus and elsewhere to reduce food intake and body fat stores. Progress in our understanding of this system2 has spurred an intense effort by the pharmaceutical industry to develop better drugs for obesity treatment. Beyond simply reducing appetite, the ideal obesity drug should suppress the potent, compensatory increase of energy intake that occurs in response to weight loss. In this issue, Xu et al.3 suggest that BDNF-expressing neurons situated in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) are components of a key brain pathway regulating energy balance. Do these data identify BDNF as a pharmacological target for the treatment of obesity? What criteria should be used to evaluate this possibility?

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Figure 1: Schematic of the mediobasal hypothalamus.

Erin Boyle

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Endocrinology and Nutrition, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle, 98108, Washington, USA

    Brent E Wisse & Michael W Schwartz

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  1. Brent E Wisse
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  2. Michael W Schwartz
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Correspondence to Michael W Schwartz.

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Wisse, B., Schwartz, M. The skinny on neurotrophins. Nat Neurosci 6, 655–656 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0703-655

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