Two drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration together with hormone leptin may suppress appetite in obese people, according to new research appearing in the January 7 edition of the journal “Cell Metabolism.”
Leptin is an appetite-suppressing hormone secreted by fat tissue. It was discovered a decade ago when it generated headlines and great hopes for an effective treatment for obesity. However, hopes vanished soon when it was found that obese people are unresponsive to leptin due to development of leptin resistance in the brain.
Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School claim to have identified the first agents that can help do away with leptin resistance in the brain, and thereby make obese people responsive to this appetite-suppressing hormone. The two drugs referred to are Phenyl Butyric Acid (PBA) and Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), which appeared to act in mice as “leptin sensitisers” combating leptin resistance in the brain’s hypothalamus. PBA is often prescribed to treat liver dysfunction and cystic fibrosis while TUDCA has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine and is used to treat liver ailments.
“We are very excited to see what will happen in humans. If it works, this can be a treatment for obesity,” Dr. Umut Ozcan of Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, who led the study, said.
For years, scientists have been searching for a drug to make people’s brains sensitive to Leptin again but without success. Now, Dr. Ozcan found that pre-treating obese mice with the two drugs, boosted Leptin sensitivity by as much as 10-fold and the mice had significant weight loss when fed a high-fat diet.
The finding can make a significant difference for millions of people who fight obesity worldwide. Obesity is one of the main health problems of the world, with 400 million people classified as obese by the World Health Organization.
Hundred of previous studies have shown that obesity comes with a number of risks such as metabolic syndrome (abnormal fat levels in the blood, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin problems). Metabolic syndrome can further lead to heart disease, diabetes and increased risk of stroke.
Moreover, many children are predisposed to obesity at a fragile age. According to a federal report in May, 32 percent of US children were considered at risk for obesity, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese in 2006.
A study presented in November at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008 in New Orleans found that the arteries of many obese children and teenagers are as thick and stiff as those of 45-year-olds, a sign that such children could have severe cardiovascular disease at a much younger age than their parents unless something is done about it. The worst part is that significant changes in the US diet dating back decades, including fatty and sugary fast foods, snacks, processed foods and beverages and fewer fresh fruits and vegetables, do not seem to help very much.
