Anti-Hunger-Hormone discovered in Starfish: New perspectives in the fight against obesity

A study by Queen Mary University of London found that humans and starfish share the hormone Bombesin, which regulates appetite.  Bombesin was first isolated in 1971 by Italian pharmacologist Vittorio Erspamer, who demonstrated its appetite-suppressing effect in mammals. British researchers, in collaboration with the Pasteur Institute in Paris, analyzed the genomes of various echinoderms and discovered bombesin-like genes in starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.  In starfish, this hormone, called ArBN, regulates stomach contraction, influencing their unique way of feeding. Injecting ArBN causes the starfish's stomach to contract, delaying prey digestion.  This suggests that the function of Bombesin dates back more than 500 million years to the common ancestor of starfish, humans, and other vertebrates. Besides potential applications in weight loss, the discovery could help contain the invasion of starfish in cold waters, a phenomenon linked to climate change.