Regulating brain enzyme could help tackle obesity

A protein responsible for the brain’s sweet tooth could point the way to new drugs that prevent obesity.

Scientists have discovered an enzyme that seems to drive sugar cravings in the hypothalamus, a brain region that regulates various functions, including food intake. The enzyme, glucokinase, was already known to be present in the liver and pancreas.

In tests on rats, boosting the protein’s activity in the brain caused the animals to consume more glucose in preference over their normal food. Reducing glucokinase activity led to the rats eating less glucose.