Leptin & Inflammation

Leptin is primarily thought of as an anti-obesity hormone. However, new investigations have demonstrated that in some cases leptin supports the inflammation process, and in others it's protective against inflammation. This takes leptin from its hoped-for role as a therapy to help people lose weight to a potential target for novel ways of diagnosing inflammation-related illnesses, including heart disease.

Leptin

Leptin is a hormone expressed by white adipose tissue, otherwise known as fat cells. Your fat cells release the most leptin late at night when you're sleeping. Most of the attention on leptin has focused on its role as an energy regulator because it helps control hunger keeps your weight relatively stable by increasing calorie-burning at times. But leptin has proved far more versatile than previously thought when it was introduced to the research arena in 1994 by Rockefeller University scientists Newer investigations proved leptin is also key in reproduction, insulin secretion and in immune functioning.

Inflammation

Inflammation is an immune system response. It triggers when your body's white blood cells and other chemicals sweep into action to protect you from viruses and bacteria, Cleveland Clinic states. Some people have auto-immune conditions in which the immune response sets off when there are no "attacking" illnesses and the inflammation response damages your body's own tissues. In either case, you may feel an inflammatory response sometimes because the rush of chemicals and increased blood flow to the affected area of your body may cause redness and warmth, as well as stimulate nerve cells and cause pain.

Energy Connection

Your immune system works best when you have an adequate and balanced energy supply, says a group of researchers who published an article on leptin and inflammation in the March 15, 2005 "Journal of Immunology." They said there is accumulating evidence that leptin may play a role in regulating your immune system under certain conditions. They suspect that in a state of leptin deficiency, leptin has anti-inflammatory effects. They just don't know how exactly that happens. One guess is that leptin may alter the production of anti-inflammatory immune system cells. In auto-immune diseases, leptin deficiency displays this protective effect. In addition, inflammation cells themselves can secrete leptin, which in its normal state may support the inflammatory process.

Leptin Resistance and Inflammation

People who have the most fat and the most leptin paradoxically don't get the energy-regulating benefits of leptin. The condition is termed leptin resistance. University of Pennsylvania researchers published a paper in the "Journal of the American College of Cardiology" asserting that when obesity induces leptin resistance, the process injures numerous peripheral tissues, including the liver, pancreas, platelets, blood vessels and heart muscle tissues. This combined metabolic and inflammation injury may result from either leptin's inability to act on those tissues or from simply having too much leptin. Moreover, leptin also physically interacts with C-reactive protein, which a marker for your body's level of inflammation and that interaction can result in leptin resistance. Conceived this way, leptin resistance isn't just bad news for weight control, but a complex physiological phenomenon that could predict cardiovascular disease risk.