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Medics announced the creation of a new weight loss drug
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A new drug that can rid a person of excess fat deposits is based on chili peppers. The first tests have already demonstrated excellent results: however, the experiments have only been conducted on rodents so far. The basis of the drug is a specific substance called capsaicin. It is under its influence that we feel the burning effect typical of chili peppers.
Pharmacology specialists representing the American University of Wyoming have noticed that the substance capsaicin is capable of stimulating the work of a specific receptor mechanism that ensures the process of energy utilization inside fat cells. In particular, the receptor group TRPV1 forces fat cells to burn energy, preventing it from being stored "in reserve". The usual introduction of a concentrate of the substance capsaicin was tried earlier, but did not lead to the expected positive fat-burning effect. Therefore, the researchers continued their development and modified the specified substance, having developed a product that was given the name "metabotsin". The new drug after administration is capable of providing a slow, gradual, but constant release of active capsaicin, which significantly increases the bioavailability of the latter and minimizes possible manifestations of toxicity or side effects.
Preliminary experiments involving animals have demonstrated that the drug does indeed cause weight loss, increases the sensitivity of cells to the presence of insulin, and stimulates the thermal transformation of the most dangerous type of fat – “brown”. After eight months of systematic therapy, the experimental rodents did not show a single unpleasant toxic sign, and the loss of excess fat continued throughout the entire treatment period.
The specialists were satisfied with the work done. According to them, metabocin is a powerful and effective remedy that can help patients with different degrees of obesity. However, the researchers remind that, according to the results of many previous tests, the usual ingestion of large amounts of chili peppers with food does not lead to clinically significant results.
The safety testing of the new drug is already behind us. Now scientists are concerned about conducting subsequent experiments involving people - both healthy and those suffering from obesity and metabolic disorders. At the moment, they are looking for a source of funding for the research, and are also developing new possibilities for capsaicin to enhance the specificity of the therapeutic effect. For example, in one of the projects, pharmacologists are testing the injection of a substance to accelerate the utilization of fat in specific parts of the body.
The results of the project work will soon be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Eating Behavior (Florida). More information is available at http://www.ssib.org/web/press2018.php
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