An anti-obesity drug derived from hot peppers promises animal testing

Credit: Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons

A new drug based on capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their spicy burn, caused weight loss in Long-term and improved metabolism health in mice eating a high-fat diet, in new studies from the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy. The drug, Metabocin, has been designed to slowly release capsaicin throughout the day so that it can exert its anti-obesity effect without producing inflammation or unwanted side effects. "We have seen marked improvements in sugar and cholesterol symptoms of fatty liver," said Dr. Baskaran Thyagarajan, lead researcher, describing how Metabocin reversed many of the damaging effects of high-fat diets. presented the results this week at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, the leading international conference of experts on food and water intake.

L & # 39 research team developed Metabocin, which can be taken orally called TRPV1 (subfamily of the potential vanilloid transient receptor 1) that is found in high numbers in fat cells by stimulating receptors. TRPV1, white fat cells start to burn energy instead of storing them, which in theory should lead to weight loss. for the researchers was whether the drug remains effective when it is used long-term, and whether adverse effects would outweigh its benefits. The mice in this experiment stayed on the drug for eight months, maintaining weight loss without evidence of safety problems. Other current experiments will see how long this can be maintained.

"It was safe and was well tolerated by mice," Thyagarajan concluded. "The development of Metabocin as an anti-obesity treatment is promising as part of a robust strategy to help people coping with obesity."

Although these findings may give some people the chance to become obese. idea to eat more spicy foods to lose weight work as expected. Most of the capsaicin in spicy foods is not well absorbed into the body and therefore would not produce these effects. The researchers specifically modified capsaicin in Metabocin for adequate absorption and sustained release.

Obesity is a growing public health problem, resulting in metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis and heart disease. Currently, one in three people in the world is overweight or obese. Exercise and diet are the standard recommendation, but these are difficult to maintain in the long term for most people, and rebound weight gain usually occurs. Wyoming researchers have advocated continuing to pursue medical options that remain effective in the long term to counteract obesity and its metabolic impacts, to help those seeking to maintain a healthier weight.

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