Scientists Find Hormone Pathway That May Speed Up Calorie Burning by David Nield
July 4, 2023
Introduction:
(Science Alert) Losing weight isn't easy for most of us, and neither is keeping it lost – not least because a process called adaptive thermogenesis kicks in, which means our body goes into a power-saving mode because less energy is supplied through food.
In a new study involving mice, researchers think they've found a hormone-signaling pathway that might help. Signaling pathways are like biochemical chain reactions in the body, with particular triggers (such as drugs) leading to effects (such as weight loss).
In this case, the hormone growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) stopped mice from automatically lowering their energy use when they ate less, speeding up another metabolic process in their muscles.
"We have discovered that in mice, GDF15 blocks the slowing of metabolism that occurs during dieting by ramping up calcium futile cycling in muscle," says Gregory Steinberg, a medical scientist at McMaster University in Canada.
Previous research has established that GDF15 and its associated receptor GFRAL impact the amount of food mice will eat. Now researchers think it could help keep weight off in the longer term and help with dieting in the first place.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
American Gastroenterological Association Supports Reintroduction of Bipartisan Treat and Reduce Obesity Act August 3 , 2023
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Bethesda, MD (August 3, 2023) – The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) today announced support for the reintroduced Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA), which would expand Medicare coverage to include screening and treatment of obesity from a diverse range of health care providers who specialize in obesity care. The bill also includes coverage of behavioral counseling, prescription drugs for long-term weight management, and other prevention and treatment options.
“As gastroenterologists we see the chronic effects of obesity on patients’ health in conditions like metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, formerly nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Expanding access and improving early intervention and treatment options will help patients overcome these diseases and live healthier lives,” said Rotonya Carr, MD, Chair, AGA Government Affairs Committee. “Because many private insurance companies model their health benefits to reflect Medicare, the passage of TROA could lead to improved obesity care options for all Americans.”
We thank Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) for their leadership on H.R. 4818/S. 2407, which is an important step to addressing obesity — a disease that affects 93 million Americans and could have an economic impact of $4.3 trillion annually if current trends continue.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
Scientists from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) today reported that inhibiting a liver enzyme in obese mice decreased the rodents' appetite, increased energy expenditure in adipose (fat) tissues and resulted in weight loss.
The finding, published in Cell Metabolism, provides a potentially desirable drug target to treat metabolic issues such as obesity and diabetes, the authors said.
"We first needed to discover this mechanism and, now that we have, we can develop drugs to improve metabolic syndrome," said senior author Masahiro Morita, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular medicine in UT Health San Antonio's Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
"We have an enzyme inhibitor that we want to make more specific to increase its effects," said first author Sakie Katsumura, DDS, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Morita laboratory.
The liver enzyme, called CNOT6L deadenylase, turns off messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs) that ordinarily carry genetic instructions from the nucleus to sites in the cell where two liver proteins are made.
One of the proteins, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), sends signals to two regions of the hindbrain to control food intake. The other, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), sends signals to brown and white adipose tissues to increase energy expenditure. CNOT6L deadenylase impedes mRNA code-carrying for both GDF15 and FGF21, which reduces these benefits.
I often read these type of articles and I think a major problems is the food. In stores and restaurants is usually promoted directly or indirectly processed and fastfood.
As a new age of weight-loss therapeutics dawns, heralded by the likes of semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), scientists are one step closer to creating a drug that can coax muscles into behaving as if they’ve just been put through a vigorous workout. Known as exercise mimetics, this proposed class of drugs essentially ‘mimics’ the benefits of exercise, triggering a mechanism that supercharges fat metabolism and encourages lean muscle mass.
"This compound is basically telling skeletal muscle to make the same changes you see during endurance training," said lead author Thomas Burris, professor of pharmacy at the University of Florida.
While exercise mimetics have been in the works for some time, the UF researchers found that a compound known as SLU-PP-332 was able to target a specific estrogen-related receptor (ERR), which boosted skeletal fat oxidation, therefore increasing energy expenditure.
FDA approves a new weight loss drug, Zepbound from Eli Lilly
Source: CBS News
November 8, 2023 / 1:25 PM EST
The Food and Drug Administration approved a request by Eli Lilly on Wednesday to begin marketing its tirzepatide medication, which is branded as Mounjaro for diabetes, under a new brand for weight loss as well.
While Mounjaro had already been used by some patients "off-label" for weight loss, the new FDA approval will allow the drugmaker to begin officially selling and marketing tirzepatide — branded as Zepbound — for weight loss too. Zepbound will be available for patients in the U.S. by the end of the year, the drugmaker said.
The company said Wednesday in a news release that the medication will be sold at a cheaper list price than its semaglutide competitors from Novo Nordisk, which are branded as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes.
"New treatment options bring hope to the many people with obesity who struggle with this disease and are seeking better options for weight management," Joe Nadglowski, CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition, said in Eli Lilly's release. The group receives funding from Eli Lilly and other pharmaceutical and health care companies.
When you eat a large meal, your stomach sends signals to your brain that create a feeling of fullness, which helps you realize it's time to stop eating. A stomach full of liquid can also send these messages, which is why dieters are often advised to drink a glass of water before eating.
MIT engineers have now come up with a new way to take advantage of that phenomenon, using an ingestible capsule that vibrates within the stomach. These vibrations activate the same stretch receptors that sense when the stomach is distended, creating an illusory sense of fullness.
The team's work is published in Science Advances.
In animals who were given this pill 20 minutes before eating, the researchers found that this treatment not only stimulated the release of hormones that signal satiety, but also reduced the animals' food intake by about 40%. Scientists have much more to learn about the mechanisms that influence human body weight, but if further research suggests this technology could be safely used in humans, such a pill might offer a minimally invasive way to treat obesity, the researchers say.
A climbing vine known as the “Seven Steps of Death” holds within its toxic growth something scientists believe to be a powerful anti-obesity compound, celastrol. For the first time, this hotly touted compound has been produced simply and safely, using normal yeast as an ideal ‘surrogate' host.
The plant, better known as the thunder god vine (Tripterygium wilfordii), grows predominantly in China and has long been used in traditional medicine to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, lupus, psoriasis, fever and more. But its toxicity to humans has made extracting its reportedly beneficial chemical properties time-consuming, risky and not at all scalable for further study and future commercial use.
Now, University of Copenhagen scientists have made the process of making celastrol simple and sustainable – the huge breakthrough needed to turn this promising compound into a viable, easily produced future obesity treatment.
"For obvious reasons, a person cannot just eat the plant and benefit from the drug,” said Sotirios Kampranis, professor at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. “So what do we do? The problem with extracting celastrol from the nature source is that it is very hard to separate it from the other toxic molecules that the plant is full of. So far, there has been no effective method to achieve this.”
