Twenty years after its discovery, recombinant human leptin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with lipodystrophy. Beginning with a synthesis of the vast body of work on its discovery, dissection of mechanisms, and effects in experimental models , the focus of this book shifts to a consideration of the regulation and role of leptin in humans. The emphasis on human-level data is a unique feature of this book. The results of numerous studies indicate that leptin is indeed a regulated human hormone.

Discovery of leptin and elucidation of leptin gene expression.- Leptin receptors and mechanism of action.- Leptin interaction with brain orexigenic and anorexigenic pathways.- Measurement of circulating leptin and soluble leptin receptors.- Physiological and hormonal factors that influence leptin production.- Leptin, obesity and leptin resistance.- Leptin and intermediary metabolism: Focus on glucoregulation and lipid metabolism.- Leptin in acute stress.- Leptin and the kidney.- Leptin, immune function, and inflammation.- Leptin and bone.- Leptin, cell cycle, and cancer.- Leptin, the autonomic nervous system, and hypertension.- Dynamic leptin secretion in obesity and diabetes.- Leptin therapy of congenital leptin deficiency.- Leptin therapy in people with normal leptin gene.- Leptin therapy in patients with lipodystrophy and syndromic insulin resistance.- Leptin therapy in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea.- Leptin therapy as a substitute for insulin replacement in experimental models of diabetes: Clinical implications in humans.- Novel combinatorial therapies involving leptin: Opportunities for mechanistic advances and therapeutic translation in human diseases.