Definition of "leptin" []

• A peptide hormone neurotransmitter produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of appetite. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "By comparing these mice with normal mice, researchers at Rockefeller University isolated a substance they called leptin from the Greek word meaning thin: leptos as being a hormone that the obese mice were not producing."
• "Some of these genetic differences will probably involve a hormone called leptin, which is produced by fat cells."
• "In fact, many leading nutrition coaches for competitive bodybuilders attempt to stave off reductions in leptin with periodic “refeeds”."