The Obese (ob/ob) Mouse and the Discovery of Leptin -- Leptin Receptors -- Leptin and Obesity -- Leptin and Neuroendocrinology -- Leptin-Insulin Interrelationships -- Leptin and Other Endocrine Systems -- Leptin and Immune Function, Inflammation and Angiognenesis -- Leptin and Bone Central control of bone metabolism by leptin -- Roles and Regulation of Leptin in Reproduction -- Leptin and Cardiovascular Disease -- Leptin and Cancer -- Lipodystrophy: The experiment of nature to study leptin -- Pulsatile and Diurnal Leptin Rhythms -- Leptin in Farm Animals -- Genetic Disorders Involving Leptin and the Leptin Receptor -- Immunoassays for Leptin and Leptin Receptors -- Clinical Applications of Leptin.

The discovery of leptin little more than a decade ago, as a hormone produced in white adipose tissue with an important role in satiety and energy expenditure, was a seminal event in our understanding of adiposity. This initial advance in the new endocrinology of obesity was soon followed by the realization that leptin was not only produced in adipose tissue, but in many different tissues of the body, and that receptors were similarly distributed. Additionally, the early recognition of infertility that was associated with leptin deficiency prompted research that identified roles for the polypeptide in virtually every area of reproductive biology. A general interest in leptin has rapidly produced inroads into unexpected areas of physiology that may eventually elucidate the varied relationships of adiposity to human health and disease. These developments have been paralleled by a rigorous investigation as a product of pharmaceutical interest. The broad range of physiology and the clinical situations in which leptin is now implicated is reviewed for the first time in the present volume. ***Series Editor's comments**** This volume integrates cutting edge basic and clinical information encompassing the expression of leptin and leptin receptors, pathophysiology and clinical role of leptin- a new neuroendocrine hormone with pleiotropic roles in appetite regulation, metabolic, inflammatory, neoplastic, cardiovascular and reproductive functions. This single volume encyclopedic coverage is indispensable to students, postdoctoral trainees, fellows, scientists and practitioners interested in neuroendocrine peptide control of multiple cellular functions. Shlomo Melmed, M.D. Series Editor Endocrine Updates .