Promising anti-obesity drug that shrinks fat without suppressing appetite

[Independent voter]

If this works in humans University of Texas is going to become one rich university.

Was reading a comment that was critical, it said that metabolizing all that fat can cause a person to overheat and even die but I don't know how true that is.

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is a serious group.






https://www.utmb.edu/newsroom/article11716.aspx

GALVESTON, Texas – Given the ever-increasing obesity epidemic, researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered a promising developing drug that has been shown to selectively shrink excess fat by increasing fat cell metabolism. The drug significantly reduces body weight and blood cholesterol levels without lowering food intake in obese mice, according to a recent study published in Biochemical Pharmacology.

Obesity is a major public health problem around that world that is a leading cause of healthcare costs and compromised quality of life. In the U.S., 40 percent of adults are obese and 30 percent are overweight, battling serious obesity-related chronic diseases. The estimated cost of obesity in the U.S. is about $150 billion each year.

“As fat cells grow larger, they begin to overexpress a protein that acts as a metabolic brake that slows down fat cell metabolism, making it harder for these cells to burn accumulating fat,” said senior author Stanley Watowich, UTMB associate professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “In addition, as the fat tissue expands, they secrete greater amounts of hormones and pro-inflammatory signals that are responsible for several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

The researchers discovered a molecule that blocks this metabolic brake from operating in obese white fat cells. By blocking this metabolic brake, they were able to increase the metabolism within white fat cells.

In the study, mice were fed a high-fat diet until they became obese and then received either the drug or a placebo. Following 10 days of drug treatment, researchers found that the obese mice receiving the actual drug lost more than seven percent of their total body weight and their white fat tissue mass and cell size decreased by 30 percent compared with the placebo group. In addition, blood cholesterol in drug-treated mice were lowered to normal levels, similar to those of non-obese mice.

On the contrary, placebo-treated mice continued to accumulate white fat and gain weight throughout the study. Interestingly, mice in both the drug-treated and placebo groups consumed the same amount of food during the course of the study period, showing that the fat loss was not due to appetite suppression.

“Blocking the action of the fat cell brake provides an innovative ‘fat’-specific mechanism to increase cell metabolism and reduce the size of white fat deposits, thereby treating a root cause of obesity and related metabolic diseases,” said senior author Harshini Neelakantan, a UTMB research scientist in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “These initial results are encouraging and support further development of this technology as a new and more effective approach to combating metabolic diseases.”

Other study authors include UTMB’s Virginia Vance, Michael Wetzel, Celeste Finnerty and Jonathan Hommel as well as Hua-Yu Leo Wang and Stanton McHardy from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

[Deleted]

Lol I got an even better anti-obesity drug: eat less.

Do I get some kind of prize now? This is how it works right?

[cubby]

Interesting if it pans out. So far all of these drugs have fallen flat or had adverse consequences. I hope it works for them though. And yeah, they will certainly have quite the new endowment.

[Shadowferal]

hmf...so...for some, get the benefits of working out and maintaining a diet without all the effort.
Of course for those with a medical condition I can understand.
For the lazy fucks however....it's not a panacea.

[Molis]

For 90% of the US population it is not that hard to lose weight.

Exercise
Eat Healthy
Eat less
Drink less

However no body can be bothered with putting in the effort.
Myself included.

[Nitros14]

For 90% of the US population it is not that hard to lose weight.

Exercise
Eat Healthy
Eat less
Drink less

However no body can be bothered with putting in the effort.
Myself included.

If it's so easy people would do that.

Except it's actually extremely hard in practice, especially working full time.

[Trassk]

If it's so easy people would do that.

Except it's actually extremely hard in practice, especially working full time.

Agreed. my last job in retail had be standing around for hours on end, legs felt exhausted by the end of it, and just wanted to rest them, never had time to exercise after each shift.

The sad reality is exercise is a time consuming part of someones day, and only those who have the time outside of their lives manage to pull it off. If someone is lucky enough to be blessed with a decent metabolism, they have the benefit of not needing to work out as rigorously as those without.

[Deleted]

Lol I got an even better anti-obesity drug: eat less.

Do I get some kind of prize now? This is how it works right?

spot on mate.
i started a diet last week.
lost 4lb in a week, just by eating less & cutting out the crap.
im hoping to have lost 2 stone by may.

[FurryRedVixen]

For 90% of the US population it is not that hard to lose weight.

Exercise
Eat Healthy
Eat less
Drink less

However no body can be bothered with putting in the effort.
Myself included.

Totally understand that, and the sad thing is, due to how the poverty line is within the us, its far more economically sound to eat bad foods then to eat healthy.

Meaning that fresh food, healthy eats, drinks and the like that are appealing, are more expensive then the sodas, energy drinks and high sugar/fructose beverages people enjoy now.

With how quick and cheap and appealing some of the fast food restaurants are now its even more difficult. Heck, they even try and lure children in with toys and kid friendly gimmicks.

Now thats not they are doing that on purpose, but the choice of, sugary drinks/fatty foods with a toy or eating greens, healthier food without a toy? Well most kids are basic by nature.

This also kinda brings in other thoughts, like how they are raised, life style of the parents, time the parents have with their kids etc.

[iETHOSi]

I can only imagine how much someone is going to have to pay for that, haha.

[Masark]

I can only imagine how much someone is going to have to pay for that, haha.

A million dollars per dose in the USA.

Half a cent elsewhere.

[iETHOSi]

A million dollars per dose in the USA.

Half a cent elsewhere.

Sounds about right, lmao.

[XDurionX]

That sounds like it's still 20 years away from being a usable product.

[endersblade]

For 90% of the US population it is not that hard to lose weight.

Exercise
Eat Healthy
Eat less
Drink less

However no body can be bothered with putting in the effort.
Myself included.

"Not that hard"

What you just listed is extremely hard, and impossible for some people. That's like telling a drug addict that all they have to do is quit. It's easy to tell people what they need to do.

I don't see this drug as a cure-all for obesity, what I see it as is a kick starter for obese people to get healthy. Take the pill to drop some of the more extreme weight to the point where you can actually DO the exercise needed to lose the rest. I can't run right now, though I'd love to, because the excess weight I'm carrying is destroying my knees. If I can drop about 50 lbs the doc says it'll be enough that I can run again. At which point I can burn the rest of it off. It's reaching that tipping point that is hard though, and that's probably the case for a lot of obese people.

[FurryRedVixen]

and to further expand on that thought of expensive healthy food, with the closing of Sams Club stores throughout the united states, these foods will be even more expensive or just not available anymore.

Sams Club is a large buy in bulk supplier of groceries, sundries, items period. Like if you ever heard Jim Gaffigans stand up about Sams Club? Its about right, a tub of mayo, trough of pickles etc.

[PogChamp]

i'll skip the testing phase, i want to eat nothing but mcdicks and sit on my ass and staying thin. send me the pills. thx

[Rendark]

something like that would be really good if it works.

[Happy Shoplifter]

Fresh fruit and veg costs next to nothing.

[Spectral]

The sad reality is exercise is a time consuming part of someones day, and only those who have the time outside of their lives manage to pull it off.

This is pretty obvious bullshit. I work significantly more than the average person, fly multiple times per week, and still run a couple thousand miles every year, lift some, and bike some. People have time, they just prioritize pretty much everything about working out.

- - - Updated - - -

Fresh fruit and veg costs next to nothing.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are pretty expensive. Frozen vegetables are generally a more economical choice for those that are broke.

[Trassk]

This is pretty obvious bullshit. I work significantly more than the average person, fly multiple times per week, and still run a couple thousand miles every year, lift some, and bike some. People have time, they just prioritize pretty much everything about working out.

.

Do you have children? Do you have responsibilities other then your own self to take care of?