Posted on 08/30/2009 3:27:00 PM PDT by RolandTignor
Researchers searching for a cure for obesity said on Thursday they have developed a drug that not only makes mice lose weight, but reverses diabetes and lowers their cholesterol, too.
The drug, which they have dubbed fatostatin, stops the body from making fat, instead releasing the energy from food. They hope it may lead to a pill that would fight obesity, diabetes and cholesterol, all at once.
Writing in the journal Chemistry and Biology, Salih Wakil of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, Motonari Uesugi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues said the drug interferes with a suite of genes turned on by overeating.
"Here, we are tackling the basics," Wakil said in a telephone interview. "I think that is what excited us."
Scientists are painfully aware that drugs that can make mice thin do nothing of the sort in humans. A hormone called leptin can make rats and mice drop weight almost miraculously but does little or nothing for an obese person, for instance.
But Wakil, whose team has patented the drug and is looking for a drug company to partner with, hopes this drug may be different. "I am very, very optimistic," he said.
Fatostatin is a small molecule, meaning it has the potential to be absorbed in pill form.
It works on so-called sterol regulatory element binding proteins or SREBPs, which are transcription factors that activate genes involved in making cholesterol and fatty acids.
"Fatostatin blocked increases in body weight, blood glucose, and hepatic (liver) fat accumulation in (genetically) obese mice, even under uncontrolled food intake," the researchers wrote.
Genetic tests showed the drug affected 63 different genes.
The idea of interfering with SREBP is not new. GlaxSmithKline has been working on a new-generation cholesterol drug that uses this pathway.
After four weeks, mice injected with fatostatin weighed 12 percent less and had 70 percent lower blood sugar levels, the researchers wrote.
Now they plan to test rats and rabbits, Wakil said.
The drug also had effects on prostate cancer cells they said -- something that may help explain links between prostate cancer and obesity.
“What’s all this then?” ping.
Great news indeed for once.
work
That's a scary blood glucose reduction.
If the baseline was a normal glucose level. If they’re talking about grossly diabetic rats that’s another story.
I’m wondering if that’s over a period of time, or very rapidly. Seriously, when someone has an unregulated CBG of 275, then a 70% reduction might be a good thing.
What has my interest is how stomach surgery can change people’s Type II Diabetes (or metabolic syndrome) into a more normal range. Doesn’t seem to be totally related to weight loss, starts occurring right after the surgery.
Sign me up, and pass the pork rinds! :)
could be under the right circumstances
It’s already been invented...it’s called “Dietandexercise.”
Anyways, yes, this may be good news. Its a shame our modern lifestyles and eating habits are making us fat, but lets face it, we are never going to voluntarily change back, so something like this could be quite useful. I wonder what the exact mechanism, if it affects the metabolism, appetite, or both.
I am currently in the middle of a major weight loss diet (40 lbs, and I am a short guy!) So far, its been hard as heck, much harder than when I was young. I finally had to do a radical diet to get it working....
I agree. This might be good for Type ii Diabetes sufferers who are also obese but not much more.
You should look into the diet that people follow after the surgery. I believe the diet has something to do with the diabetes going away.
Also, low-carb/paleo works well.
“That’s a scary blood glucose reduction.”
It would be scary if your blood glucose were only about 125, but perfectly satisfactory if it were up in the range of 200 or so. At about 300 or so, the extremities start dying, blindness occurs, and the kidneys fail.
Really fast.
Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease. High cholesterol is most likely a symptom of other factors, such as obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, genetics, or other diseases. In fact, when studies are reviewed, and high-risk patients are removed, the majority of those who developed heart disease actually had LOW cholesterol. There are many studies coming to light now, in fact, that demonstrate that high cholesterol may be GOOD for you, and is your body’s response to other factors as a self-healing mechanism.
See http://www.ravnskov.nu/myth1.htm
Dr. Ravnskov has taken a second look at the data that the pharma companies are manipulating to sell their statin drugs. When you read his findings at the link above, I’m sure your eyes will be widely opened. This is the biggest scam perpetrated on the public since Obama ran for election (actually, this was before that).
Under Obamacare this type of break through drug research will no longer be done as government regulators will never approve the cost of such drugs.
Post-gastric bypass people are told to push the protein anyway. . .it’s the effectively the Paleo diet. .
Not enough information from the article to know a dose related effect.
“Genetic tests showed the drug affected 63 different genes. “
that’s a bit scary
Diet alone doesn’t seem to cause all the changes that the surgery does.
I personally do not have a weight problem, with the exception that I was too thin when my thyroid was hyper.
A dear friend is looking into the surgery, and has recently been diagnosed with Type II. She has lost considerable weight, but her blood sugars are still high, and she and her internist are planning a surgical consult.
Agreed.
Surgery is not without side effects. Please tell your friend to be careful. Surgery may lead to osteoporosis...
http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_12594487?nclick_check=1
Also, I believe a paleo diet will definitely lower blood sugars, as it has mine. It’s worth trying before taking the irreversible step of surgery.
Grind ‘em up and put ‘em in Big Macs. HoooHaaaH!
The reason it is so hard to get rid of fat is that for the vast majority of the time humans have been on Earth, “fat was life”. If you lost too much fat you would die. So the body has all sorts of mechanisms to create and protect its fat.
Fat is also an important part of the immune system. Within fat are clumps of cells called MAST cells, that when signaled or irritated produce chemicals important to the immune response against disease. The more fat you have, the more MAST cells you have, and more than proportionally. So a fat person has far more than a skinny person.
In turn, when MAST cells are irritated, some of the chemicals they release are “pro-fat”, making it easier to gain and keep fat.
Within the last month, researchers have discovered that if a fat mouse is returned to a normal diet, but given MAST-inhibitor chemicals, they quickly lose weight until normal weight.
MAST inhibitors are also sold OTC in drug stores, for two other purposes. As nasal spray and eye drops. Unfortunately, these only subdue local MAST cells, not those in the body, and they are not well absorbed in the digestive tract. So even if you drank a whole bunch, it probably wouldn’t do much.
However, otherwise this stuff is very safe and effective. And this is why there is going to be a rush of other fat-loss products, that may be far less effective. If they don’t sell them soon, nobody will want them because they can buy a drug that works.
A serial link to the abstract about fatostatin from Chemistry & Biology. IIRC, it lowers the good HDL-cholesterol too.
Discovery Of 'Fatostatin' A Turnoff For Fat Genes
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
She is aware of all the possible complications, and has not yet set a date, although she is thinking seriously about it.
So where does the energy that is in the food go?
It has to go somewhere.
ping
They also recently discovered that catalase, or the low levels of it causes gray hair.
...it’s called “Dietandexercise.”
Actually, the ideal regiment for many of us, is “Dietandexerciseandstatinsandprobablyniacin”. :-)
Really, in three months just the first three dropped weight by 20% (into the “ideal range”), and reduced LDL by ~80%, total cholesterol by 55% and triglycerides by 38% so it can work wonders. Now, if the HDL was as easy to raise....sigh. I fear it will take a bit of slow release niacin for that(but at least the therapy is available.
There’s really no reason to go with any more rat pharmaceuticals. They’ve already provided a wonder drug for mankind (WARFarin - Warf...Rats. Get it?)
Nah, all those things previously mentioned will help out a lot but ya’ gotta’ work at it to make ‘em work in concert. It’s way more than we had 20 years ago, and that’s a good thing.
I’ll take it...
I believe the diet has something to do with the diabetes going away.
No, the changes occur sometimes within a day of the surgery and it is postulated that it has something to do with cutting into the stomach itself.
So does it affect Type I diabetes or Type II or both? The source does not say.
bttt
I have found that newsmax tends to publish some way-out-there health stories and claims. You have to take what they print about health with a grain of salt... but, I think you could say that about most health-related stories. Everybody seems to have some astounding study to report these days.
Speaking of such... here’s one that might interest you. :-)
Kudzu extract may be useful in treating metabolic syndrome
http://ihealthbulletin.com/blog/2009/08/30/kudzu-supplement-metabolic-syndrome/
Excellent.
When people ask me how I lost weight I say it was the ELE diet.
When the looks of confusion pass over their faces I elaborate: "The Eat Less and Exercise diet."
When the looks of confusion pass over their faces I elaborate: “The Eat Less and Exercise diet.”
And it’s FREE...in fact, you save money...
Y’mean there may actually be a use for kudzu?
In his youth, my Dad worked at seeding/roadside maintenance. Maybe I should tell him atonement is in sight for the Vine that Ate the South, LOL.
It has to go somewhere.
You remodel your house in a day.
>>Y’mean there may actually be a use for kudzu?<<
They’re making bio-fuel out of it:
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=mcgee_ryan&id=3461697
>>> “What has my interest is how stomach surgery can change people’s Type II Diabetes (or metabolic syndrome) into a more normal range. Doesn’t seem to be totally related to weight loss, starts occurring right after the surgery.”
Your reduced stomach can only hold so much, and therefore carb digestion (along with everything else you eat) is reduced comparable to portion size. Right?
Are nutritional supplements prescribed for bariactric patients as well? I know of mandatory BC pills for fertile females, and that’s about the limit of my knowledge.
Funny article, thanks!
It’s just that I get this image of them planting a field of kudzu (ON PURPOSE!) because apparently only the bulbous root produces ethanol, and a chill runs up and down my spine. Those boys mean well, bless their hearts, but there will come a day when their wives kiss them goodbye and send them off to work, and that’ll be the last anybody sees of the poor fellers.
And the Europeans think genetically modified agricultural products are scary NOW...
I’ve never taken care of bariatric surgery patients, so I’m not sure what the supplement protocol is. Probably tailored to each patient’s particular needs, and any deficiencies that may develop.
My thinking is that, due to drastically reduced portion size, proper nutrient absorption would be of concern. Is the patient still deriving the nutrients needed to be healthy? in other words.
Much as I need to lose weight, I’m not sure I’d take the surgery even if it were free on my end. In my case it wouldn’t be a matter of cosmetics, but permanent alteration of body mechanics scares me. Even after all the weight has dropped, your GI system can’t return to normal, can it?
If there’s anyone who can answer that question for me, I’d appreciate it.
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