Weight loss

Scientists are scrambling to develop new treatments for our obesity problem. Here are five that show promise.

Our battle with weight loss isn’t going to go away anytime soon but scientists are always looking for new ways to help. Here are the latest up-and-coming medical approaches that you’re likely to be hearing more about.

Scientists have discovered that oxytocin – the

“love hormone” released by the pituitary gland when people hug, kiss or otherwise connect socially – may also be used to promote weight loss.

In one small clinical trial of 25 men, a single dose of a synthetic version of oxytocin, delivered through a nasal spray, reduced overall food intake, especially of fatty foods. “We think oxytocin may work in part by improving one’s ability to resist the impulse to eat,” says study researcher Elizabeth Lawson, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “It may also make food seem less rewarding.”

In addition to reducing kilojoules eaten, oxytocin improved insulin sensitivity and ability to clear sugar from the bloodstream. The spray showed no strong side effects, but further research will test its effects on women and make sure it’s safe for long-term use.

The trial will take four years, and approval will likely follow if results are positive.

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Research suggests obesity might be controlled through an unexpected pathway: the brain’s immune cells, called microglia. When people eat high-fat diets, these cells, which fight infection, trigger inflammation in the brain. In a study of mice fed a fat-rich diet, those given a drug that reduces microglia gained 20 per cent less weight than untreated mice did. “This could lead to an expansion of drugs using an entirely new pathway to target obesity,” says Suneil Koliwad, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Human studies are the next step. Even if the results are positive, it will be at least several years before this drug is available.

AN ANTI-OBESITY HORMONE A DRUG TO HARNESS IMMUNE CELLS A GUT BUG–OBESITY CONNECTION

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The microbiome – a population of bacteria that lives in the body – has been linked to many diseases and conditions, including obesity.

Now researchers have identified one biological connection between body weight and the microbiome: a chemical called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) that’s produced after gut bacteria digest nutrients in red meat and other animal products.

When researchers gave mice a chemical that blocked the production of TMAO, the rodents didn’t gain weight even when they ate a high-fat, high-kilojoule diet. Research is under way to develop a drug that would block TMAO, helping to change the microbiome and promote weight loss.

Researcher Mark Brown says that a TMAO-blocking drug could be available in the US in five to seven years and would then need Australian approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

A NO-CAL MEAL IN A PILL

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A fat-burning compound called fexaramine that tricks the body into reacting as if it has consumed food and needs to burn fuel has been developed at the Salk Institute in California. “It mimics many effects of eating a meal but doesn’t provide any kilojoules,” says Ronald Evans, director of the study.

When mice were given fexaramine daily for five weeks, they not only dropped weight but also lost fat and had lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels than untreated rodents did. Since fexaramine is designed to act only in the intestines, researchers hope it will have few side effects.

Evans predicts that fexaramine will be approved in the US in less than five years.

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