Leptin for Infertility

BOSTON (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- If you have extremely low body fat that has caused you to stop menstruating, you may want to learn more about the hormone leptin. A landmark study shows the hormone can regulate periods. And that's not all it does.

Gretchen Dobson is an active professional in her mid-30s. She works out regularly and has low body fat, which have led to irregular menstrual cycles and infertility. "My husband and I had started to want to try to have children when I was about 27, and for the last eight years, we've tried unsuccessfully," she says.

Searching for answers, Dobson joined a study on the hormone leptin to promote fertility. She says, "I thought that this actually could be part of the reason why I wasn't cycling. Maybe it was because I didn't have this hormone -- this leptin -- which is found in the fat cell of the body."

Endocrinologist Corrine Welt, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, leads the research. "We think that leptin is actually the signal that tells your brain that there is enough body fat or enough energy available to reproduce," she tells Ivanhoe.

So far, she seems to be right. "When we started giving them leptin, suddenly they started to grow eggs. They started to have ovulations again, and they started to menstruate," Dr. Welt says. "They felt like normal women for the first time in a long time."

Dobson is still trying to get pregnant but thinks she's on the right track. She says, "For once in almost 20 years, I was having regular periods. There was nothing that was changed in my diet, in my regular routine, other than taking this drug."

More research needs to be done to know how effective leptin is. Until then, Dobson keeps her hopes up that a baby will soon be on the way.

Leptin is not yet FDA approved and, at this point, is still investigational. Dr. Welt says more studies are needed to look at specific factors like dosing before leptin could be available to the public.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Corrine Welt, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
(617) 726-8437