Auwerx J, Staels B
Laboratoire de Biologie des Régulations chez les Eucaryotes (U325 INSERM), Département d'Athérosclérose, Institut Pasteur, Lille, France.
Lancet. 1998 Mar 7;351(9104):737-42. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)06348-4.
Leptin (from the Greek leptos=thin) was identified only 3 years ago. It has attracted huge attention both scientifically, with more than 600 publications, and in the media, where this protein has been portrayed as the way to a cure for obesity. Indeed, leptin was first described as an adipocyte-derived signalling factor, which, after interaction with its receptors, induced a complex response including control of bodyweight and energy expenditure. Leptin seems in addition to its role in metabolic control to have important roles in reproduction and neuroendocrine signalling. Human obesity is a complex disorder, with many factors playing a part; the pathophysiology of leptin is not as simple as it seems to be in rodent models of obesity.
瘦素（源于希腊语leptos=瘦）3年前才被发现。它在科学界引起了极大关注，相关出版物超过600篇，在媒体上也备受瞩目，这种蛋白质被描绘成治愈肥胖症的途径。事实上，瘦素最初被描述为一种脂肪细胞衍生的信号因子，它与受体相互作用后会引发包括体重控制和能量消耗调节在内的复杂反应。瘦素似乎除了在代谢控制中发挥作用外，在生殖和神经内分泌信号传导方面也具有重要作用。人类肥胖是一种复杂的病症，有多种因素起作用；瘦素的病理生理学并不像在肥胖啮齿动物模型中看起来那么简单。
