This dramatic weight loss is greater than that produced by bariatric surgery
Washington: A Thunder God vine extract, which is also an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, could be a potential cure for obesity, suggests a new study.
The weight-loss compound, called Celastrol, produces its potent effects by enhancing the action of an appetite-suppressing hormone called leptin. The findings are an early indicator that Celastrol could be developed into a drug for the treatment of obesity.
It reduced food intake and caused up to a 45 percent decrease in body weight in obese mice.
Senior study author Umut Ozcan, said that if Celastrol worked in humans as it did in mice, it could be a powerful way to treat obesity and improve the health of many patients suffering from obesity and associated complications, such as heart disease, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes.
In the new study, Ozcan and his team screened an existing database containing whole-genome gene expression profiles from human cells that were treated with more than one thousand small molecules. They found that Celastrol was the most effective at producing an expression profile that could be associated with improved ER function and leptin sensitivity in human cells. Within one week of Celastrol treatment, obese mice reduced their food intake by about 80 percent compared to untreated obese mice. By the end of the third week, treated mice lost 45 percent of their initial body weight almost entirely by burning fat stores.
This dramatic weight loss is greater than that produced by bariatric surgery. Moreover, Celastrol cut cholesterol levels and improved liver function and glucose metabolism, which collectively may translate into a lower risk of heart disease, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes.
The study has been published in Cell.
( Source : ANI )
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