Women who have higher levels of the appetite-controlling hormone leptin have fewer symptoms of depression, and this apparent inverse relationship is not related to body mass index (BMI), a new study finds. The results are being presented at The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. “Animal data suggest that leptin may reduce anxiety and improve depression. Our study in women suggests that leptin may indeed have antidepressant qualities,” said the study’s lead author, Elizabeth Lawson, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
