‘Weight loss drug invented’ without side effects

Scientists have created a gel-based carrier that delivers a drug specifically to the livers of obese mice, after which their symptoms of diet-induced disease disappear. are

Previous research suggests that thyromimetics, or drugs designed to mimic the body’s natural thyroid hormone, are a potential way to combat obesity, which affects more than 10 million people worldwide, and other metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes. It causes

Other scientists, including researchers at the University of Massachusetts, said targeted therapies could be important when using such drugs.

He said that if the drug was not delivered specifically to the liver, it could ’cause complications’.

So scientists worked to develop a new delivery platform for small and large molecules so that the drug reaches the right place in the body.

For the latest study, recently published in the journal PNAS Nexus, a group of mice fed a high-fat, high-sugar and high-cholesterol diet for 10 weeks doubled their weight compared to control mice. The group was fed healthy food.

Study co-author S Thai Theomanwan said in a statement: ‘We took a very simple approach using our unique invention, nanogels, which we can selectively deliver to different targets.

We have named this gel ‘IntelliGels’. They were custom designed for hepatocyte delivery to the liver.’

The researchers packaged the drug into a nanogel and delivered it to the target by injection to obese mice daily.

Dr Theomanwan said: ‘The mice that underwent the treatment completely lost their weight gain and we did not see any adverse or side effects.’

The scientists explained that when the nanogel carrier reaches the liver cells, the body’s glutathione enzyme breaks the gel bonds, releasing the drug into the liver.

The drug then causes the cells to activate the thyroid hormone beta receptor, which decreases the level of fat molecules in the body, increases bile acid synthesis, and melts away fat.

The researchers found that after five weeks of treatment, the mice’s weight returned to normal even when their high-fat diet was continued.

They also saw a reduction in the mice’s cholesterol levels and a reduction in inflammation in their livers.

Dr Theomanwan said: ‘We really wanted to find the influencing factors.’

He said: ‘We found that we were activating the reverse cholesterol transport pathway, a process that lowers cholesterol. We believe that activating fat oxidation and increasing metabolic rate lead to weight loss, but more work is needed to prove this.’

Although there is still a lot of work to be done to develop the drug in mice and humans, the researchers are hopeful that this treatment will eventually be available as a drug.