Citation

Hill NE, Fallowfield JL, Delves SK, Ardley C, Stacey M, Ghatei M, Bloom SR, Frost G, Brett SJ, Wilson DR, Murphy KG. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2015; 23(3): 608-614.

Affiliation

Academic Department of Military Medicine, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, UK; Section of Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1002/oby.21000

PMID

25612171

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the mechanisms that drive weight loss in a lean population may elucidate systems that regulate normal energy homeostasis. This prospective study of British military volunteers investigated the effects of a 6-month deployment to Afghanistan on energy balance and circulating concentrations of specific appetite-regulating hormones.

METHODS: Measurements were obtained twice in the UK (during the Pre-deployment period) and once in Afghanistan, at Mid-deployment. Body mass, body composition, food intake, and appetite-regulatory hormones (leptin, active and total ghrelin, PYY, PP, GLP-1) were measured.

RESULTS: Repeated measures analysis of 105 volunteers showed body mass decreased by 4.9% ± 3.7% (P < 0.0001) during the first half of the deployment. Leptin concentrations were significantly correlated with percentage body fat at each time point. The reduction in percentage body fat between Pre-deployment and Mid-deployment was 8.6%, with a corresponding 48% decrease in mean circulating leptin. Pre-deployment leptin and total and active ghrelin levels correlated with subsequent change in body mass; however. no changes were observed in the anorectic gut hormones GLP-1, PP, or PYY.

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that changes in appetite-regulating hormones in front line military personnel occur in response to, but do not drive, reductions in body mass.

Language: en