"We believe this research is of foremost relevance in clinical terms as it may indicate that the outcome of weight therapy may be pre-conditioned," said Crujeiras. "Furthermore, our findings may provide endocrinology and nutrition professionals a tool to identify individuals in need of specialized weight-loss programs that first target appetite hormone levels before beginning conventional dietary treatment."

Other researchers working on the study include: Est-baliz Goyenechea, Itziar Abete and J. Alfredo Mart-nez of the University of Navarra in Spain; and Mary Lage, Marcos Carreira and Felipe Casanueva of Compejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago in Spain. Both research groups belong to the Centro de Investigaci-n Biom-dica en Red de la Fisiopatolog-a de la Obesidad y Nutrici-n (CIBERobn), an Instituto de Salud Carlos III iniciative.

The article, "Weight regain after a diet-induced loss is predicted by higher baseline leptin and lower ghrelin plasma levels," will appear in the November 2010 issue of JCEM.

Source: The Endocrine Society