The brain’s weight “switch” may have been discovered in a new study which allowed obese mice to lose weight without changing their diet. If the same effects are seen in humans, it could lead to a new therapy that allows people to regulate their weight without experiencing the hunger and food restrictions associated with traditional weight loss diets.
The way our body processes food and generates energy centers around a part of the brain known as the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), which we know sends signals to our body’s fat stores – known scientifically as adipose tissue – has been unclear, but a new study set out to find out through experiments on mice.
Thus, the researchers found that mice that were obese showed a slowing of GABRA5-positive neurons in the LHA. These cells play a role in regulating the amount of fat we carry.
You eat as much as you want, you lose weight
The researchers then looked at what would happen if they used chemogenetic inhibition to further shut down the activity of GABRA5 neurons using chemicals. In doing so, they observed additional weight gain as the fat tissue in the mice began to use less energy.
This inspired them to look for a way to induce the opposite effect by activating GABRA5 neurons to act as a switch to regulate body fat. The LHA was again implicated here because it contains another type of brain cell, called astrocytes, which can act on GABRA5 neurons. This is because they can express an enzyme that releases gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits GABRA5 – which, as we have already established, increases the accumulation of body fat.
The key, it seems, was stopping the enzyme produced by astrocytes that inhibits GABRA5, and that troublesome enzyme is called monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). Fortunately, biotech company Neurobiogen began working on such a drug in 2019: a selective and reversible MAO-B inhibitor known as KDS2010.
The drug is currently in early clinical trials and was given to obese mice in this study to see how it affected their weight. The results showed that the mice could lose weight without reducing their food intake or eliminating fat.
What is FORBIDDEN to do on Saint Mary the Little, on September 8. It’s a big SIN
2023-09-09 05:40:00
#eat #dont #gain #weight #fascinating #discovery #specialists #unreal
