Stieg Mareike R, Sievers Caroline, Farr Olivia, Stalla Günter K, Mantzoros Christos S
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Kreapelinstr. 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany.
Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Kreapelinstr. 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Jan;51:47-57. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.09.004. Epub 2014 Sep 22.
Leptin, a peptide hormone secreted by adipocytes, plays a central role in controlling appetite and weight in both rodents and humans. Basic science and clinical research suggest that this hormone not only affects the regulation of the neuroendocrine axes, but also exerts effects on the central nervous system with subsequent alterations in psychological functions. For instance, leptin suppresses cortisol secretion during stress-related activation of the adrenal axis. As psychiatric disorders like depression are associated with hypercortisolism, leptin is proposed to exert anti-depressant-like effects due to its inhibition of chronically overactive hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis function. Moreover, leptin status of depressed patients could serve as a prognostic marker for therapy response. Besides its influence on neuroendocrine pathways leptin seems to have direct central effects on brain development and neuroplasticity. Low leptin levels have been shown to be associated with increased risk of developing dementia, supporting the idea of a pro-cognitive effect of leptin. These areas may have direct clinical implications and deserve to be studied further in the future.
瘦素是一种由脂肪细胞分泌的肽类激素，在控制啮齿动物和人类的食欲及体重方面发挥着核心作用。基础科学和临床研究表明，这种激素不仅影响神经内分泌轴的调节，还对中枢神经系统产生影响，随后导致心理功能发生改变。例如，在应激相关的肾上腺轴激活过程中，瘦素会抑制皮质醇分泌。由于抑郁症等精神疾病与高皮质醇血症有关，因此有人提出瘦素因其对长期过度活跃的下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴功能的抑制作用而具有抗抑郁样效应。此外，抑郁症患者的瘦素状态可作为治疗反应的预后标志物。除了对神经内分泌途径的影响外，瘦素似乎对大脑发育和神经可塑性有直接的中枢作用。低瘦素水平已被证明与患痴呆症的风险增加有关，这支持了瘦素具有促认知作用的观点。这些领域可能具有直接的临床意义，值得在未来进一步研究。
