Science team highlights new approach to obesity

The therapeutic promise of activating Sirt1 to spur weight loss and increase longevity has already generated significant R&D interest. Now researchers at Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center say that Sirt1 in the brain has the potential to keep people thinner. And that discovery could point the way to new obesity drugs.

The scientists determined that inhibiting the activity of Sirt1 in the brain's hypothalamic region appears to help control food intake. That's a significant departure from the work that's been done using resveratrol to stimulate Sirt1. Details of their work will be published online Dec. 15, 2009, at PLoS One.

"It's still controversial whether calorie restriction or resveratrol are Sirt1 stimulators," said Eduardo Nillni, the study's lead author.  Nillni and his team believe that Sirt1 behaves differently in the brain than in organs such as the liver and pancreas, where the enzyme has been more commonly studied.

- check out the Brown University press release for more info

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