New Research Explores Potential Treatment for Obesity

Helen Holmes February 06, 2013

Obesity remains to be among the leading causes of preventable disease in the UK, with 22 percent of Britons considered obese. According to Forbes, UK has the most overweight population in Europe, and it is the 28^th on the 2009 list of fattest countries. Is there any way to beat obesity?

Seems like, there is. In the latest study by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, researchers discovered a way to convert muscle stem cells into brown fats – also called the body’s calorie-incinerators. According to the researchers, brown fats are critical in the fight against obesity because they have the ability to dissolve bad fats. These fats enable the body to regulate temperature and keep a person warm. Previous studies linked brown fats with lesser risk of obesity.

Boosting brown fats to reduce obesity

The team, headed by Dr Rudnicki, a senior scientist and director for the Regenerative Medicine Program and Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, identified a gene regulator called microRNA-133 or miR-133. They noticed that when the miR-133 is present, the stem cells turn into muscle fibres. And when reduced, they turn into brown fats. To further investigate these findings, the researchers injected an agent to reduce miR-133 in lab mice. As compared to the control group, mice that had their miR-133 reduced produced more brown fats. They also improved their ability to process glucose.

The researchers noticed another surprising effect. The administration of the miR-133 reducing agent into the hind leg of the rat has led to an increased energy production throughout the body. This effect was noticed after four months.

Potential treatment could be ‘years away’

More studies are needed to be done in order to come up with the treatment for obesity that involved reducing the gene regulator miR-133. Scientists still need to know whether the administration of the miR-133 reduction agent can help adults who are already overweight, and if yes, how long the effects would last, and how it should be administered to patients. Nevertheless, Ottawa researchers considered this breakthrough study as the first step towards a better treatment for obesity.

Their findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

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Source of this article:

Fighting fat with fat: Stem cell discovery identifies potential obesity treatment