SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Virginia Tech drug researcher develops 'fat burning' molecule that has implications for treatment of obesity (Science Daily)
"Obesity is the biggest health problem in the United States. But, it is hard for people to lose weight and keep it off; being on a diet can be so difficult. So, a pharmacological approach, or a drug, could help out and would be beneficial for all of society," said Webster Santos, professor of chemistry and the Cliff and Agnes Lilly Faculty Fellow of Drug Discovery in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.
Santos and his colleagues have recently identified a small mitochondrial uncoupler, named BAM15, that decreases the body fat mass of mice without affecting food intake and muscle mass or increasing body temperature. Additionally, the molecule decreases insulin resistance and has beneficial effects on oxidative stress and inflammation.
The findings, published in Nature Communications on May 14, 2020, hold promise for future treatment and prevention of obesity, diabetes, and especially nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a type of fatty liver disease that is characterized by inflammation and fat accumulation in the liver. In the next few years, the condition is expected to become the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.
Mitochondrial uncoupler BAM15 reverses diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16298-2) (DX)
Mitochondrial uncoupler BAM15 inhibits artery constriction and potently activates AMPK in vascular smooth muscle cells (open, DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2018.07.010) (DX)
BAM15‐mediated mitochondrial uncoupling protects against obesity and improves glycemic control (open, DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202012088) (DX)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 14 2020, @10:17PM
It's a social problem, but not necessarily the way you describe. When I was a kid I didn't have access to safe places for outdoor play and my parents were working too hard at their jobs to take us anywhere. So I spent a lot of time indoors, and my siblings and I were all fat.
My career was good enough that I had my kids in a daycare, where they got plenty of unstructured activity time. Only one of my four kids is fat - and she spent the first twelve years of her life with undiagnosed lactose intolerance. She sat around all day because she had terrible stomach aches. We finally figured out the lactose intolerance and cut dairy from her diet, and her activity level is starting to ramp up to match her siblings.
Inner city kids, kids who have to take care of a younger baby brother or sister, people who need to work two jobs to pay their bills, people with untreated health problems - they all have obstacles to healthy activity. I really think the best things society could do for obesity is make gym class (with gym teachers that aren't assholes) a mandatory part of every school day so kids who don't have an opportunity to exercise outside school are still active and cut the full time work week back to 35 hours.