According to a story from news-medical.net, researchers working with the Institute for Experimental Pediatric Endocrinology of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to successfully treat young patients that were obese because of a genetic mutation. The data from the study also helped scientists understand more clearly the manner in which this new treatment helped control genetic obesity.
Obesity and weight control is a subject that receives a lot of attention in the media. Unrealistic body standards promoted in mass media have had a profound effect on the lives of millions of people in the U.S., especially women. Obesity can have severe health consequences as well. While the high sugar and high fat diets of many Americans are responsible for the increase in obesity rates, especially among children, the ability of a person to control their weight varies significantly thanks to genetic differences, which affect the function of the metabolism and the ability of a person to gain or lose weight. However, for a small number of people that are obese, a genetic mutation is entirely responsible for their excess weight.
This mutation causes an affected person to experience extreme hunger by the time they are just a few months old. The result is genetic obesity that appears in the first few years of life. In these rare cases, typical weight management approaches, such as a reduction in overall caloric intake, changes in dietary habits, and an active lifestyle with plenty of exercise, are not sufficient for these cases. In addition, surgical interventions are also ineffective. Therefore, there is serious need for a drug-based intervention; a lifetime of obesity is bound to come with major health consequences. To learn more about genetic obesity, click here.
In the proof-of-concept study, the scientists used a peptide that engages with the MC4R receptor in the brain, which is critical for sending the brain messages that the stomach is full. This reversed the effects of the mutation and restored much more normal levels of hunger for the patients in the study.
More research must be done before this method can be developed into a drug for public use, but the results were encouraging. Dr. Peter Kühnen, who helped begin the basis of research that lead to the creation of the study, also wants to understand why the peptide did not cause any major side effects, which are to be expected for treatments with a similar mechanism of action.
