The first day focuses on regulation of food intake and energy expenditure and a highlight is a presentation by Shelagh Wilson from SmithKline Beecham giving unpublished details of the identification of the melanocyte concentrating hormone receptor and its role in the control of feeding. Other papers will address progress on various neuropeptides involved in feeding. Day 2 will be concerned with type 2 diabetes targets, including islet cell targets and leptin. The development of diabetes appears to be influenced by both in utero nutritional programming and the consumption in adult life of high fat diets. The discovery of leptin in 1994 provided hope of a treatment for human obesity.
Human studies show that it produces changes in meal-related satietal sensations.
He predicts that diabetes incidence will approach 400 million and could have a crippling economic effect in some developing countries. He suggests that in some Asian countries, such as China, communal exercise programmes, particularly in children, may become compulsory as a means of combating obesity driven diabetes. Mike Cawthorne suggests that the major drug discovery challenges are to find drugs that could increase islet cell mass in utero and in newborn children, and to remodel islets in patients with diabetes. There are also challenges in identifying the nature of dietary fat induced insulin resistance and in finding dietary fats that can be incorporated into foods that contain insulin sensitiser lipids.