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Naturally occurring protein molecule could help in fighting obesity
05/Oct/2006: A team of Japanese scientists have found that a naturally occurring protein molecule, called nesfatin-1, might help in treating obesity in humans, as it suppresses appetite in mammals.
An experiment carried out by this team; found that rats, which were infused with this molecule, over a period of 10 days, ate much less than other rats. They also gained less weight when compared to other rats (an average weight gain of 12.6 grams vs. 30.4 grams), without any side effects.
The molecule nesfatin-1 was discovered by this team, led by Dr. Masatomo Mori, of the Department of Medicine and Molecular Science at Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, in Maebashi, after analyzing 596 genes, of which nine are expressed in both the brain and the fat tissues of mammals. This molecule is found in a secretion of hypothalamus, a region of the brain, which regulates appetite in mammals. It is a fragment of the protein NUCB2, and it is believed to play an important role in appetite control.
To test this theory, nesfatin-1 was injected in to the hypothalamus region of a special strain of obese rats, which carried a gene mutation that resisted the effects of ‘leptin’ (a protein hormone, which plays a key role in regulating appetite and metabolism).
Many obese people are believed to be resistant to the regulatory effects of leptin. Nesfatin-1 reduced the appetite in injected obese rats, proving that it could be effective in reducing appetite in obese people with leptin–resistance.
Dr. Mori said that they did not observe any side effects in the rats injected with nesfatin -1. Since brain injections are not feasible in humans, Dr. Mori and his team are now exploring alternate ways to test nesfatin-1 in obese rats.
Dr. Mori said that preliminary data from study show that peripheral (non-brain) injection of nesfatin-1 could also be effective in reducing appetite in obese rats, which implies that subcutaneous injections of nesfatin-1 (injections that inject nesfatin-1 into the layer of tissue underlying the skin) would be available in future, to treat obesity in humans.
Estimates say that over one billion adults worldwide are overweight, with 300 million of them considered to be obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke and some forms of cancer. If this molecule is proved to be effective in reducing appetite, then it might play an important role in treating obesity in humans, in future.
Related Links
http://www.veganeating.org/
http://www.finallyitfits.com/
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