Labs Fail to Reproduce Protein's Appetite-Suppressing Effects

摘要

Two years ago, Stephen Bloom and his group at Imperial College London touched off a scramble in labs around the world with the latest discovery of how the body regulates appetite. The investigators reported in the 8 August 2002 issue of Nature that a molecule called peptide YY_(3-36) (PYY_(3-36)), when injected into rodents, dampens appetite for 12 hours or more. But, like previous hot results in the quest for diet drugs, this one has cooled upon closer inspection. In an unusual joint letter in Nature this week, more than 40 scientists an-nounced that they cannot reproduce Bloom's central findings.