Fat on the abdomen can be removed with the help of injections
Last reviewed: 12.04.2020
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Scientists are conducting final testing of the newest means to combat obesity - these are injections that turn "bad" white fat into "quality" brown.
The new preparation is made on the basis of nanoparticles. At the moment, experiments on rodents have already been carried out, and the results were only positive: after injections, the weight of obese animals rapidly declined, and the metabolism stabilized.
White fat is a kind of fat that can accumulate energy. It also serves to protect the organs from mechanical influences. However, with an excess of calories and lack of physical activity, such fat begins to appear in areas where a priori should not be.
In turn, brown fat is considered more active: it alone can spend calories, as it is responsible for the temperature constancy inside the body.
Researchers decided to try to translate a layer of white fat into brown, which will help stimulate metabolism.
The author of the study was a doctor-bioengineer Meng Deng, representing Purdue University. It was he who first talked about a new type of anti-obesity drugs - about drugs that inhibit Notch-signaling. The specialists managed to block the work of the Notch 1 gene in the cellular structures of the white fat layer, increasing the expression of the specific protein Ucp 1.
Under the influence of such inhibitory drugs, a genetic transformation of white fat occurred.
The whole process is described in detail in Molecular Therapy.
The scientists also told what type of inhibitor drug they used for transformation - it was dibenzazepine, a common antiepileptic drug. The inherent property of inhibition was discovered by chance.
To accurately deliver the drug molecules to the fat cell structures and reduce the severity of side effects, scientists introduced the drug into specific nanoparticles obtained from polylactacoglycolic acid. This acid is a polymer that successfully passed all necessary checks and was allowed to create new medical nanopreparations.
Injection of the obtained nanomedicament into the interlayer of white fat stimulates its transition into brown fat: the quality of metabolism also changes.
" Fat cells keep nanoparticles: this leads to the fact that the medicine affects only fatty tissue and does not cause unnecessary antiepileptic side reactions. Targeted transportation is safe and involves the use of small doses of the drug only once a week, "- says Dr. Shihuang Kuang.
It is noteworthy, but this technique can be used not only to get rid of excess kilograms. Studies have confirmed that such treatment improves tolerance to sugars and insulin resistance in obese animals.
Now scientists suggest that injections of the drug can be used, both for the treatment of obesity and its consequences, and as an analogue of plastic medicine.
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