New Avenues for Weight Loss Open Up

Science is making significant strides in the fight against obesity, with two promising breakthroughs opening the door to the next generation of treatments. Recent research highlights a new understanding of amylin receptors and the development of edible fat-trapping microbeads, offering both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to weight management.

A University of Oklahoma study, published in Science Signaling, has revealed a new and crucial understanding of how amylin receptors react upon activation. Amylin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas that controls appetite and blood sugar. Augen Pioszak, Ph.D., the paper's senior author, emphasizes that these receptors are very complicated and possess unique properties.

His laboratory's research has discovered how the three amylin receptors share a core component but have differing accessory subunits, giving them a key distinction. Furthermore, drugs can affect these receptors by pulling them together or pushing them apart, an important mechanism for drug development. This new methodology allows researchers to understand exactly what developing drugs do at each of the three amylin receptors, which is crucial for creating medications that effectively control appetite with fewer side effects. Amylin receptors belong to the same family as GLP-1 receptors, already targeted by pioneering drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy).

In a completely different approach, researchers at Sichuan University have developed edible microbeads that promise weight loss without drugs or surgery. These small spheres, made from green tea polyphenols, vitamin E, and a seaweed polymer, are designed to bind to fats in the gastrointestinal tract.

Preliminary results in rats on high-fat diets have been striking:

• Rats that consumed the microbeads lost 17% of their total body weight.

• They showed reduced adipose tissue and less liver damage.

• They excreted more fat in their feces without apparent ill effects on their health.

Unlike medications such as orlistat, which can cause gastrointestinal side effects or liver and kidney damage, these microbeads did not present such problems in rats, offering a noninvasive and gentle method. Researchers envision that these nearly flavorless microbeads could be easily integrated into people's diets, perhaps as pearls in desserts or "bubble tea" type drinks. A human clinical trial has already begun with 26 participants at West China Hospital of Sichuan University, marking a significant step toward their potential clinical use.

Both discoveries represent a promising future for obesity treatment, addressing a major public health concern linked to diseases like diabetes and heart conditions.

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🔖 Sources

Edible microbeads trap fat to support weight loss

A new understanding of amylin receptors could pave way for next generation of weight loss drugs

Fat-Trapping Microbeads Cut Obesity Without Drugs in Rats

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