Dr. Richard DiMarchi, lead author of the research at Indiana University stated, "Obesity and its associated consequences, including adult-onset diabetes, remain a primary health and economic threat."
DiMarchi and colleagues created a synthetic hormone and investigated the combined effects of two natural peptide hormones
, glucagon and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1),on rodents in a laboratory study.
Though the two hormones are similar in structure they differ in their chemical structure and biological function and are involved in regulating glucose metabolism and appetite control.
Laboratory experiment and its findings
Researchers injected the mice with the combined drug. After they were given the hormone for seven days it was observed that their body weight shrank by 25 percent and their fat mass by 42 percent.
In a month’s time, their weight fell 28 percent and the stored fat mass was reduced by 63 percent.
The results of the study show proof of principle “…that single molecules can be designed that are capable of simultaneously activating more than one mechanism to safely normalize body weight,” said DiMarchi.
He added, “No single agent has proven to be capable of reducing body weight more than 5 to 10 per cent in the obese population. Combination therapies using multiple drugs simultaneously may represent the preferred pharmaceutical approach to treat obesity.”
Wonder drug for humans
DiMarch said the next step was to test the drug on humans. It is vital that drugs are demonstrated as safe in animal models before trails are run on humans.
Cambridge University professor of clinical biochemistry Stephen O'Rahilly said, "Many promising drugs fall down when tried in humans either because they don't work sufficiently well or because of side-effects."
DiMarchi said the drug has the potential to achieve weight loss results similar to those currently achieved only by gastric bypass surgery.
However he stated, "I don't expect for a minute that humans are going to lose 25 percent body weight loss in a week in fact I don't believe that that would be safe for a human."
Terry Herbert, who researches the role of GLP-1 in diabetes at the University of Leicester in the UK says, “This is potentially very exciting. The idea that a single dose of a peptide could lead to this incredible weight loss is staggering. However, a lot more work is required to discover if similar benefits can be seen in humans, and to assess possible side-effects.”
The entire study is available in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
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