Estrogen Works in Brain To Regulate Female Weight

Estrogen regulates energy output, appetite and body weight, and insufficient estrogen receptors in certain regions of the brain may lead to obesity, according to a recent mouse study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

“Estrogen has a profound effect on metabolism,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. “We hadn’t previously thought of sex hormones as being critical regulators of food intake and body weight.”

The research is the first to demonstrate that estrogen works through two hypothalamic neural centers in the brain to regulate hunger and energy expenditure, keeping female body weight in check.

Female mice without the estrogen receptor alpha – a molecule that sends estrogen signals to neurons – in those parts of the brain became obese and developed related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.

These results were not replicated in male mice, although scientists believe other unknown estrogen receptor sites in the brain play a similar role in regulating male metabolism as well.

Although estrogen receptors are located throughout the body, researchers pinpointed two specific populations of estrogen receptors that seem to regulate energy balance for female mice...