Hormone Leptin May Protect Against Depression

According to the conclusions of a new scientific study, it would appear that elevated amounts of the hormone leptin in the human brain might avert some of the symptoms associated with depression, or at least alleviate their intensity.

The correlation is especially true in women, researchers say. All test subjects who were found to have high levels of leptin in their neural circuitry were displaying significantly fewer symptoms of depression than their peers who had less of the hormone.

Over the past few years, leptin has come under increased scrutiny, as researchers are suspecting that the chemical may be involved in some processes scientists were not privy to before. The new study suggests that depression might be one of them.

One of the main roles that leptin naturally plays in the human body is underlying the feeling of satiety that we experience after we've had enough to eat. The hormone is in charge of signaling the fact that the stomach is full to the brain, which then provides us with the aforementioned sensation.

In fat women, the level of leptin is extremely high, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston say, whereas the exact opposite is true for thin women.

The new study was led by MGH/HMS lead author Elizabeth Lawson, MD. Details of the new work will be presented at 93rd annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, which will be held in Boston.

“Animal data suggest that leptin may reduce anxiety and improve depression. Our study in women suggests that leptin may indeed have antidepressant qualities. It is unknown whether low leptin levels contribute to the development of mood disorders in these women,” the investigator explains.

In the new experiments, the researchers tested the strnegth of the connection between leptin availability and mood disorder in 64 women, 15 of which had anorexia nervosa. Another 17 were fat, but otherwise healthy, 12 were of normal weight and 20 were normal-weighted with hypothalamic amenorrhea.

“Further research administering leptin to humans will be important in understanding whether this hormone has a potential role in the treatment of depression,” the team leader concludes, quoted by PsychCentral.