Levels of hormones regulating appetite and energy homeostasis in response to a 1.5-Year combined lifestyle intervention for obesity

Susanne Kuckuck; Eline S van der Valk; Anton J W Scheurink; Robin Lengton; Mostafa Mohseni; Jenny A Visser; Anand M Iyer; Sjoerd A A van den Berg; Elisabeth F C van Rossum

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1010858

Levels of hormones regulating appetite and energy homeostasis in response to a 1.5-Year combined lifestyle intervention for obesity

Front Physiol. 2023 Feb 20:14:1010858. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1010858. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Susanne Kuckuck^{1

2}, Eline S van der Valk^{1

2}, Anton J W Scheurink³, Robin Lengton^{1

2}, Mostafa Mohseni^{1

2}, Jenny A Visser^{1

2}, Anand M Iyer^{1

2}, Sjoerd A A van den Berg^{1

2

4}, Elisabeth F C van Rossum^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Obesity Center CGG, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
³ Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Weight loss can induce changes in appetite-regulating hormone levels, possibly linked to increases in appetite and weight regain. However, hormonal changes vary across interventions. Here, we studied levels of appetite-regulating hormones during a combined lifestyle intervention (CLI: healthy diet, exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy). Methods: We measured levels of long-term adiposity-related hormones (leptin, insulin, high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin) and short-term appetite hormones (PYY, cholecystokinin, gastric-inhibitory polypeptide, pancreatic polypeptide, FGF21, AgRP) in overnight-fasted serum of 39 patients with obesity. Hormone levels were compared between T0 (baseline), T1 (after 10 weeks) and T2 (end of treatment, 1.5 years). T0-T1 hormone changes were correlated with T1-T2 anthropometric changes. Results: Initial weight loss at T1 was maintained at T2 (-5.0%, p < 0.001), and accompanied by decreased leptin and insulin levels at T1 and T2 (all p < 0.05) compared to T0. Most short-term signals were not affected. Only PP levels were decreased at T2 compared to T0 (p < 0.05). Most changes in hormone levels during initial weight loss did not predict subsequent changes in anthropometrics, except for T0-T1 decreases in FGF21 levels and T0-T1 increases in HMW adiponectin levels tended to be associated with larger T1-T2 increases in BMI (p < 0.05 and p = 0.05, respectively). Conclusion: CLI-induced weight loss was associated with changes in levels of long-term adiposity-related hormones towards healthy levels, but not with orexigenic changes in most short-term appetite signals. Our data indicates that the clinical impact of alterations in appetite-regulating hormones during modest weight loss remains questionable. Future studies should investigate potential associations of weight-loss-induced changes in FGF21 and adiponectin levels with weight regain.

Keywords: appetite regulation; gut hormones; gut-brain axis; lifestyle intervation; weight regain.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) Vidi (grant No. 91716453) and the Elisabeth Foundation.