U.S. scientists discovered a drug that allowed rats to gain weight no matter what they ate.
The treatment developed by a team led by Brad Barnett, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins whose results are published in the journal Science , blocked the action of ghrelin, the so-called "hunger hormone" and induced weight loss and other beneficial metabolic effects in mice.
is believed that the success of treatment experiments in mice because the drug affects the metabolism of animals instead of targeting your appetite.
is known that the so-called "hunger hormone", as a modulator of glucose, using the stimulation of appetite and other complex mechanisms to promote weight gain in mammals.
hunger hormone
However, the hunger hormone is only active if you carry a chain added by another enzyme called gherlin-O or GOAT, for its acronym in English. So that the researchers designed a chemical compound that inhibited GOAT and therefore the activity of the hunger hormone.
"We designed a synthetic compound from an enzyme called GOAT that has an important role in glucose regulation. We found that this compound was a relatively safe form capable of preventing the rise of weight in mice fed diets high in fat, "he told BBC Philip Cole, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins.
The drug was given to mice improved their tolerance to glucose and prevented them gain weight regardless of the food they ate.
"Our compound was not affected by food intake of mice, whose appetite was negligible in the results, allowing us indirectly assume that the metabolism of the mice increased, ie, they were able to burn more fat and break. The other way to measure this is that the effects were noticeable in the mass fat, which is the most desirable for weight loss. "
Scientists knew from previous studies that genetically removing this enzyme was increased metabolism of animals.
However, this is the first time that develops a drug that inhibits the activity of the hormone of hunger both in living cells and in mice.
And it would be a different approach to all treatments that have been made to date.
However, the drug still would not be ready for use in humans, something that would begin working on Cole's team "We want to improve the synthetic compound in pharmacological aspects that can be safely administered in humans, to treat people who are overweight or diabetes, "said the researcher, who said he still would be at least two years before he could be experienced in humans.
Asked if there is a possibility that one day we can eat whatever you want and take a pill to prevent us from getting fat, Cole says it's doable, but still have a long way go before it can become a reality.
Meanwhile, no choice but to continue to measure what we eat.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2010/11/101118_obesidad_ratones_farmaco_adelgazante_pl.shtml
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