Giving a single injection of the peptide kisspeptin‑10 to men caused their blood levels of irisin—a hormone that can boost fat burning—to rise sharply. The rise happened in both lean and obese participants, although the timing was slightly different. The study suggests kisspeptin‑10 might be a new way to trigger irisin, but it doesn’t tell us how to use it in everyday life.

Kisspeptin role in metabolism has been implicated recently. However, the nature of the signals that may connect body fat/muscle tissues with the central nervous system governing energy homeostasis remains to be elucidated. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of peripheral kisspeptin-10 administration on irisin release in human males. Kisspeptin-10 was administered to normal weight (n=8) and obese (n=8) men. Sequential blood sampling was performed for 30 minutes pre and 210 minutes post kisspeptin injection at 30 minutes interval. ELISA kit was used to detect plasma irisin levels. There is a significant (P<0.0001) effect of Kisspeptin-10 administration on irisin release in both normal weight and obese participants. Mean irisin levels (96.24 ± 1.351 ng/mL) at 210 minutes were significantly (P<0.0001) enhanced as compared to pre-kisspeptin (59.18 ± 4.815 ng/mL) in normal weight subjects. In obese subjects mean irisin levels (75.76 ± 4.06 ng/mL) were significantly (P<0.0001) elevated at 180 minutes post-kisspeptin when compared with pre-kisspeptin irisin levels (41.28 ± 2.89 ng/mL). Our findings suggest that kisspeptin may have a novel therapeutic potential to induce irisin release in humans which may have anti-obesity effects.