Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scientists Accidentally Discover Weight Loss Therapy After Mice Start Sweating Fat From Their Skin
https://www.iflscience.com ^ | 05 August 2021 | Jack Dunhill

Posted on 12/13/2021 12:11:40 PM PST by Red Badger

Accidental science is the best. One of the greatest lifesaving drugs in history – penicillin – was discovered purely by accident, and such experiments truly show how intricate and unpredictable science is.

So, when researchers from the University of Pennsylvania began their journey looking for a type 2 diabetes treatment and stumbled across a potentially incredible weight-loss treatment, needless to say, they were more than surprised.

The researchers describe their new results in a paper in the journal Science, in which they applied a treatment to a group of lab mice in the pursuit of counteracting type 2 diabetes. Instead of performing as expected, the experiment took a surprising turn – the mice started secreting a slimy substance through their skin.

“They glistened in the light,” said senior author and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Taku Kambayashi, in an interview with Inverse.

“The ones that got TSLP [the treatment] they're always shiny, and I didn’t know what that meant.”

“When they were losing that much weight, they were, I would say, slimy, almost,” he says.

This substance completely surrounded the animals, and when the researchers analyzed it, they discovered it was actually fat. The treatment had made the mice shed fat directly through their skin.

The treatment in question is thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). TLSP is a cytokine (small proteins that control immune cell activity) that has been shown previously to activate immune cells that control inflammation, a pathway vital for preventing type 2 diabetes and obesity. The researchers hypothesized that if the TSLP could hitch a ride into the body using a virus vector, they could stimulate the immune system into counteracting the disease.

In this pursuit, they packaged the TSLP with an adenovirus vector, a method currently seen in many different experimental therapies. When injected into the mice, the TSLP caused them to rapidly shed weight through the secretion of sebum. Sebum is an oily substance that is produced by glands in the skin and contains lots of lipids, including oils and fat, that help defend the skin from bacteria and fungi. The TSLP had caused immune T cells to migrate to the glands that secrete sebum, causing them to secrete far more sebum and essentially ‘sweat’ out white adipose tissue (a common form of fat).

Throughout the study, the mice lost around half of their entire white adipose tissue, including an especially nasty form of fat, visceral fat, which coats the organs and is strongly linked to mortality.

The implications of this accidental discovery could be huge. A reliable weight loss method is sorely needed, as the world continues to struggle with rising obesity rates. Alongside the weight benefits, a TSLP-based therapy could be helpful in helping skin conditions such as eczema. Of course, the study only puts forward a potential avenue of research – far more safety, efficacy, and human trials would be needed before it could see widespread use. The researchers now aim to identify the mechanism behind the sebum production, as well as attempt to translate it into an effective therapy.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Health/Medicine; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-71 next last
To: ProtectOurFreedom; Red Badger

It does look sexy, but I’m thinking the motor oil smell is going to be a turnoff.

I’d be willing to smear coconut oil all over her.


41 posted on 12/13/2021 12:55:50 PM PST by DannyTN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ifinnegan

You’d have to shower with a strong grease-cutting soap a lot.

SOS soap pads!


42 posted on 12/13/2021 12:56:42 PM PST by Flick Lives
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Salamander

LOL!

The researcher’s word, not mine:

“’When they were losing that much weight, they were, I would say, slimy, almost,’ he says.”

But hey, I’ve always been a greasy Italian. Maybe I’m just oversensitive about it. ;-)


43 posted on 12/13/2021 1:06:06 PM PST by sitetest (Professional patient. No longer mostly dead. Again. It's getting to be a habit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

How many people die from the effects ofobesity each year? Look for the government to mandate obesity vaccines next as long as dimmocrats are calling the shots.


44 posted on 12/13/2021 1:06:57 PM PST by Real Cynic No More (Make America Great. Prosecute Dems who break the law!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
(Pizza the Hutt, from 'Spaceballs')
45 posted on 12/13/2021 1:14:24 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (META - Make Everything Trump Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sitetest

The whole article/concept is surreal.

How many people will pay to walk around leaving a slime trail everywhere they go?

;D


46 posted on 12/13/2021 1:15:19 PM PST by Salamander ("Salamander has barbaric tendencies" /Gundog)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: sitetest
Somehow, this just belongs here


47 posted on 12/13/2021 1:18:06 PM PST by Salamander ("Salamander has barbaric tendencies" /Gundog)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

“Sweating Fat”? Yeah, something tells me that folks taking this therapy would likely produce B.O. that could wilt flowers or peel paint. X.x


48 posted on 12/13/2021 1:27:51 PM PST by Kriggerel ("All great truths are hard and bitter, but lies... are sweeter than wild honey" (Ragnar Redbeard))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sonofagun

Try a zinc supplement :)


49 posted on 12/13/2021 1:31:31 PM PST by Buttons12 ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Didn’t Richard Simmons used to make videos about this?


50 posted on 12/13/2021 1:36:16 PM PST by Chewbarkah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

“far more safety, efficacy, and human trials would be needed before it could see
widespread use. “

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

Why? We didn’t get that with these gene therapy “Vaccines” they are pushing on
the entire planet...

~Easy


51 posted on 12/13/2021 1:36:51 PM PST by EasySt (Say not this is the truth, but so it seems to me to be, as I see this thing I think I see.#KAG )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

Acne, you’ll get acne, but you’ll be skinny.... and really ugly.


52 posted on 12/13/2021 1:38:17 PM PST by Ikeon (Let's do things the stupid way, because its easier for you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger; oust the louse


53 posted on 12/13/2021 1:49:28 PM PST by Albion Wilde (Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude. --Frederick Douglass)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Someone better check with Fauxi. He is the Lord of Science after all. /obvious sarc


54 posted on 12/13/2021 2:02:40 PM PST by LeoTDB69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

If it weren’t for the brains of the mice oozing out of their nostrils, it would be the perfect weight loss treatment!


55 posted on 12/13/2021 2:05:41 PM PST by Ronaldus Magnus (No, I didn't read the article...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bruce Campbells Chin

LOL!


56 posted on 12/13/2021 2:13:56 PM PST by telescope115 (Proud member of the ANTIFAuci movement. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Buttons12

Zinc?


57 posted on 12/13/2021 2:14:08 PM PST by WHATNEXT?
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
So Richard Simmons was right?


58 posted on 12/13/2021 2:37:54 PM PST by Alas Babylon! (Rush, we're missing your take on all of this!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salamander

“How many people will...walk around leaving a slime trail everywhere they go?”

Progressives already do.


59 posted on 12/13/2021 2:39:06 PM PST by Timothy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Timothy

LOL

*ick*


60 posted on 12/13/2021 2:45:01 PM PST by Salamander ("Salamander has barbaric tendencies" /Gundog)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-71 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson