Recent studies demonstrate the importance of leptin in feeding behavior. The decreasing of the serum concentration of this hormone is directly related to the body fatty amount and provokes alterations in neuroendocrine axis, causing amenorrhea and hyperactivity, among others consequences. In this paper, a review of the main aspects interconnecting leptin and anorexia nervosa is made, as well as of the effects of excess and deficiency of this hormone on feeding disease. It was an effort to convert a large amount of knowledge obtained from literature into a condensed text, aiming to provide an updated view, how leptin functioning as a peripheral signal of energy availability to central nervous system influences on the neural activity involved in regulation of body weight and energy homeostasis.
leptin; energetic homeostasis; anorexia hypothalamic