A brainless approach to obesity

A number of products in development to treat obesity target neurologic pathways that signal satiety and affect cellular metabolic rates, but many must cross the blood brain barrier to have an effect. Last week researchers identified a satiety pathway that is activated peripherally and potentially could be targeted by oral small molecule compounds.

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine published in Nature evidence in rats that oleylethanolamide (OEA), an endogenous fatty acid, is produced in the small intestine in response to feeding and signals satiety through peripheral sensory neurons, thereby decreasing appetite. ...