Obesity: increasing energy expenditure, a new therapy
Today, the main means used to prevent obesity, as well as to promote weight loss, remains the reduction of caloric intake, through a suitable diet. However, despite all these efforts, the risk associated with obesity continues to increase.
This is why American scientists decide to explore another path . Their work, published in Molecular Therapy, demonstrated that a molecule injected into the muscle mass of a mouse significantly increased its energy expenditure.
Promote the diet by avoiding a “yoyo” effect
This study, conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa, aims to neutralize the biological processes linked to the reduction in calorie intake. Precisely, during a diet, the body does not distinguish the difference between a decrease in caloric intake related to a diet or starvation . Consequently, it reacts by slowing down the metabolism significantly, in order to reduce energy expenditure.
To avoid this phenomenon, scientists sought to modify the activity of proteins called KATP (ATP-dependent potassium channels), used to modulate the energy efficiency of muscles. These proteins are also essential for the proper functioning of the heart muscle, which poses a limit vis-à-vis the desired action.
In order to avoid impaired heart function, the scientists looked for a way to target only the KATP proteins of skeletal muscles, and tested a molecule called vivo-morpholino.
The researchers injected this compound into the paws of the mice. The vivo-morpholino molecule made it possible to locally block the production of KATP proteins, without modifying the cardiac KATPs. In addition, the results show that the muscle having received the vivo-morpholino compound burns a greater number of calories , without however losing its effectiveness during the practice of a physical exercise.
Improve the effects of physical exercise
People affected by obesity often have difficulty maintaining regular intense physical activity . Treatment with the compound vivo-morpholino would improve and potentiate the effects of normal to moderate physical activity.
“ This new therapeutic strategy is not intended to replace physical exercise or a healthy diet for weight loss. But it could help initiate weight loss by overcoming the body’s physiological resistance ,” explains Denice Hodgson-Zingman, one of the authors of this latest study.
The discovery of the effect of this molecule called vivo-morpholino on the KATP proteins opens up a new therapeutic avenue in obesity and the risks associated with it. This approach could accompany all the measures taken at present and prove effective in the fight against obesity, which is a real public health problem.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.