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Dopamine Receptors Linked To Obesity
Just as alcoholics or addicts abuse drink or drugs, recent findings suggest that obese people may binge on food because of dopamine, a brain chemical responsible for producing feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York have shown that many obese people have fewer brain receptors for dopamine and may turn to food as a means of stimulating the pleasure circuits in the brain.
These recent findings, reported in The Lancet medical journal, could point the way to a completely new approach to treating obesity. Currently, obesity affects as many as one third of all Americans and a growing number of people worldwide. The Brookhaven scientists think targeting dopamine could prove a significant means of providing direct, successful treatment strategies for many who struggle with obesity.
Higher BMI and Fewer Dopamine Receptors
The researchers suspected that because eating, like using addictive drugs, is a behavior that’s reinforced as it prompts feelings of pleasure, it was possible that obese people might also have abnormalities in brain dopamine. They tested this theory on 10 extremely obese people and 10 others of normal weight.
Using sophisticated brain imaging, the researchers injected each volunteer subject with a chemical tag that binds to a dopamine receptor and they then measured the signals from the tags. Strong signals indicated a high number of receptors. “We found that obese subjects have fewer dopamine receptors than control subjects,” explained Gene-Jack Wang, the lead scientist in the study, “this is one of the (study’s) major findings.” Wang added that “the use of food is a way to compensate for the deficiency.”
The study’s researchers also noted an inverse correlation between body mass index (BMI) and dopamine receptors that wasn’t evident in those with normal weight. BMI is a measure of weight relative to height and is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters. A BMI of 18-25 is considered normal, 25-30 is overweight, and more than 30 is obese.
The Brookhaven scientists found that the obese people with the highest BMI also had the fewest receptors. “It’s possible that obese people have fewer dopamine receptors because their brains are trying to compensate for having chronically high dopamine levels, which are triggered by chronic overeating,” said Wang. Alternatively, they could have initially had fewer dopamine receptors, which would have made them more vulnerable to overeating or other addictive behaviors.
As a result of the study’s findings, Wang and his colleagues are suggesting that methods to regulate dopamine—either through drugs, exercise, or behavior modification—could help obese people better control their urge to overeat.
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