Scientists at Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research (WMI) have contributed to the development of an entirely new type of pill that tricks the body into thinking it has consumed calories, causing it to burn fat.<\/p>\n
Research published in Nature Medicine shows that the pill is effective in stopping weight gain, lowering cholesterol, controlling blood sugar and minimising inflammation.<\/p>\n
And because the drug, called fexaramine, acts in the intestine and is not absorbed into the blood, it is expected to cause fewer side effects in humans than other diet pills.<\/p>\n
Professor Chris Liddle and researcher Sally Coulter from WMI\u2019s Storr Liver Centre collaborated on the research with a team at the Salk Institute Gene Expression Laboratory in the United States.<\/p>\n
Professor Liddle says\u00a0fexaramine activates a protein called FXR which plays a role in how the body releases bile acids from the liver, digests food and stores fats and sugars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we did with this drug was mimic the way your body reacts when you eat a meal,\u201d said Professor Liddle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis pill is like an imaginary or virtual meal and sends out signals that normally happen when you eat a lot of food, so the body starts clearing out space to store it and burns fat in the process. But there are no calories and no change in appetite.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Obese mice given a daily pill of fexaramine for five weeks stopped gaining weight, lost fat and had lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels than untreated mice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the mice had a rise in body temperature\u2013which signals metabolism ramping up\u2013and some deposits of white fat in their bodies converted into a healthier, energy-burning beige form of the tissue,\u201d said Professor Liddle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe drug was actually discovered several years ago and while a positive result wasn\u2019t unexpected,\u00a0 the fact that the degree of improvement we found in mice was so marked was a bit of a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fexaramine could also lead to an effective treatment for obesity-related type 2 diabetes, suffered by over a million Australians.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring our research it became apparent that this drug was a powerful treatment not just for obesity but also for the type 2 diabetes that these mice get,\u201d said Professor Liddle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Other drugs have previously been developed to activate FXR, but affect several organs including the liver, kidneys and adrenal glands, causing side effects.<\/p>\n
Salk Institute Gene Expression Laboratory director Ronald Evans and the research team investigated whether switching on FXR only in the intestines might have a different outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turns out that when we administer fexaramine orally, it only acts in the gut,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body\u2019s response to a meal is like a relay race, and if you tell all the runners to go at the same time, you\u2019ll never pass the baton. And the reality is that the very first responder for all this is the intestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve learned how to trigger the first runner so that the rest of the events happen in a natural order.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers hypothesise that since fexaramine doesn\u2019t reach the bloodstream, it is likely to\u00a0be\u00a0safer in humans than other FXR-targeting drugs.<\/p>\n
Subject to further research currently underway it is hoped that human clinical trials might begin within three years.<\/p>\n
Professor Liddle cautions, however, that patients taking the fexaramine pill would still need to make diet and lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cExperience would tell us that no obesity treatment works particularly well unless it is associated with some lifestyle changes. So while I think this pill could be a major step forward in the treatment of both obesity and type 2 diabetes, a healthy diet and lifestyle is always a good accompaniment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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