Eating And Weight Gain Not Necessarily Linked, Study Shows

You may not be what you eat after all. A new study shows that increased eating does not necessarily lead to increased fat. The finding in the much-studied roundworm opens the possibility of identifying new targets for drugs to control weight, the researchers say.

The discovery reveals that the neurotransmitter serotonin, already known to control appetite and fat build-up, actually does so through two separate signaling channels. One set of signals regulates feeding, and a separate set of signals regulates fat metabolism. The worm, known scientifically as Caenorhabdtis elegans, shares half of its genes with humans and is often a predictor of human traits.

The signaling pathways are composed of a series of molecular events triggered by neurons in the brain that ultimately "instruct" the body to burn or store fat.

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Antipsychotics Found to Have Different Ethnic and Metabolic Profiles: Presented at APA

Antipsychotic medications have different effects depending on the patient's specific metabolism and ethnicity, according to a post-hoc analysis of a randomized trial that compared aripiprazole and olanzapine reported here at the 161st Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Associations (APA).

The study compared the metabolic and racial and/or ethnic effects of 2 antipsychotic medications -- olanzapine and aripiprazole -- that are both approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of schizophrenia.

In the 26-week, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, the effects of aripiprazole and olanzapine were compared in patients who had been grouped according to their ethnicity -- "White/Other" (n = 67); "Black" (n = 86); "Hispanic" (n = 51)

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