A simple vaccine against obesity?
July 12, South Dakota: The global obesity epidemic is a major public health challenge for the 21st century. Given the difficulty to help patients regain a healthy weight, the prospect of a vaccine is no shortage of inspiring hope. Although it is still far from a product intended for humans, the work published recently in the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology evoke an interesting track.
The researcher Keith Haffer, President of the company BraaschBiotech based in South Dakota (USA), is the observation that growth hormone and a protein (IGF-1) to speed the metabolism, ie the consumption of calories , leading to weight loss. However, the action of these agents is blocked by another hormone called somatostatin. By injecting a modified form of this molecule in mice, researchers were able to induce antibody production by the body, which is then opposed to the action of somatostatin, leaving the way open for the effect boosteur of growth hormone metabolism.
Two slightly different versions of the vaccine were tested for six weeks in mice made obese by a diet high in calories. Ten of the rodents received the vaccine, the other ten forming a placebo. The products were administered twice, at the beginning of six weeks and then the 22nd day of the experiment.
Four days after the first injection, the vaccinated mice, who continued to receive a rich diet, lost 10% of their body weight, while the weight of rodent control, the same rule, had not diminished. After six weeks, the guinea pigs still had antibodies against somatostatin, but their rate of growth hormone or insulin reaches abnormal levels. They began to regain weight, but two to three more slowly than animals receiving placebo.
For Keith Haffer, “this study shows that it is possible to treat obesity by vaccination. Further research is needed to study the long-term effects of this vaccine, but it would allow health professionals to have a non-surgical and non-drug against the epidemic of overweight.
“Remember that there is very little anti-obesity drug licensed in France and that bariatric surgery is reserved for massive obesity. The key to the management of patients based on nutritional support and encouraging physical activity for life.” Professor Sebastian Czernikow, head of nutrition at the Ambroise Pare hospital in Boulogne-Billancourt, has said about the work. “In terms of treatment efficacy, the study highlights a difference of only a few grams between vaccinated mice and the placebo group: is it enough with regard to the possible margin of error? Furthermore, these studies do not mention measurement of glucose (blood sugar) in mice treated - and it is known that growth hormone may be the increase, with a potential risk of diabetes.
Finally, and this is the main, the treated mice still gained weight in fine, albeit in lesser proportion.”
Professor Czernikow underlines that “any obesity research is interesting in that we have at present very limited therapeutic means to fight against this chronic disease that is obesity.”
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