Obesity and diabetes are growing global health concerns, affecting millions of people and leading to severe complications like heart disease and strokes.
While bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass, has been a successful option for significant weight loss and diabetes remission, it isn’t suitable for everyone due to its risks and invasive nature.
Now, researchers are exploring less invasive alternatives that could provide similar benefits without surgery.
A recent study from Queen Mary University of London offers exciting potential for people struggling with obesity and diabetes. The research team has developed a new class of injectable compounds that can significantly reduce body weight and lower blood sugar levels in lab animals.
These compounds aim to replicate the benefits of bariatric surgery by influencing how the gut regulates certain hormones that control appetite and blood sugar, but without the need for invasive procedures.
Current medications used to treat obesity and diabetes often focus on activating specific receptors in the pancreas and brain, particularly those related to a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
However, these drugs can cause unpleasant side effects like nausea and vomiting, making them difficult for some patients to tolerate. The researchers addressed this by designing new compounds that work on more than one type of gut hormone receptor.
One of the most promising compounds they developed is called GEP44. This peptide activates two receptors for another gut hormone called peptide YY (PYY), in addition to the GLP-1 receptor.
In tests with obese rats, GEP44 reduced food intake by up to 80% and led to a 12% weight loss in just 16 days.
To put this in perspective, the rats lost more than three times the amount of weight compared to those treated with liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor drug currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for obesity treatment.
Even more importantly, GEP44 appears to avoid the common side effects of nausea and vomiting seen with other treatments. Tests on rats and shrews (animals that can vomit, unlike rats) showed no signs of these symptoms.
Researchers believe this is due to the compound’s ability to activate multiple receptors, which may cancel out the pathways in the brain responsible for nausea.
The weight loss effects of GEP44 are not just due to eating less. The compound also boosts energy expenditure, which can show up as increased movement, higher heart rates, or a rise in body temperature.
This suggests that GEP44 helps the body burn more calories, adding another layer to its effectiveness in weight management.
In addition to promoting weight loss, GEP44 also helps lower blood sugar levels by pulling glucose into muscle tissue, where it can be used as energy.
It also appears to convert certain cells in the pancreas into insulin-producing cells, which can be beneficial for people with diabetes whose insulin-producing cells have been damaged.
One surprising discovery from the research is that GEP44 may also reduce the craving for opioids like fentanyl in rats.
This could open up a new area of treatment for addiction if the results can be replicated in humans. By reducing cravings, this compound could help people struggling with opioid addiction avoid relapse.
Researchers have filed patents for their compounds and are planning further tests in primates. They also want to explore how the treatments affect gene expression and rewire the brain, which could have implications for other types of medications.
If successful, these compounds could offer a safer and more accessible alternative to bariatric surgery for people with obesity and diabetes.
This groundbreaking research highlights the potential for new, non-invasive treatments that could help millions of people struggling with weight management and diabetes.
While more testing is needed before these compounds can be used in humans, the initial results are promising and represent a significant step forward in the fight against these common and serious health conditions.
If you care about weight loss, please read studies that hop extract could reduce belly fat in overweight people, and early time-restricted eating could help lose weight.
For more information about weight loss, please see recent studies that Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
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