Lab Test: Inject Genes Into The Brain, Fat Disappears

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Genetics
Article Date: 06 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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It's estimated two out of three Americans are now overweight or obese* - and spend about $60 billion a year to try and change it.** But someday losing weight might be as quick as a single injection - but this one wouldn't be in the arm - it would be in the brain.

It was Doctor Matthew During, MD, PhD of Ohio State University Medical Center who developed the concept - using a gene in lab mice known as BDNF.

"We're putting in a normal, healthy copy of the gene that's already there, but just giving it the instructions to turn it on so that gene is now what we call being expressed," says Dr. During.

And when it is expressed, that gene helps control not only how much the animals eat but how efficiently they burn calories. Clinical trials involving mice yielded impressive results. Within an hour of injection, insulin levels in the mice dropped by a third. Within weeks of injection, the mice shed half their weight. All from a single injection.***

Dr. During says going directly into the brain works best - and it's a technique already in use. For years, surgeons have implanted devices in the brain to help with everything from Parkinson's Disease to depression. And some day, During says, he could see the same for weight loss.

"We do the surgery and drop in the gluid and it takes an hour or two. The patient then has a follow-up scan four four to six hours later, if everything looks healthy on the brain, we send them home," says Dr. During.

While human tests have yet to start, the approach could someday be a viable option for people like Tammy Murray. Even though she's committed to exercising and eating righ, she knows how easy it can be to get sidetracked.

"When months go by, you get further and further away from your goal, your weight creeps up, your bad habits increase and you're back where you started," says Murray. But these injections would be permanent and scientists say the results would be too.

Scientists also say that there is a safety mechanism built into the injection that can shut down the gene therapy if anything goes wrong.

Dr. During hopes to take his idea to the FDA for human studies within the next 12 to 18 Months.

Sources:

*Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 2006, retrieved from: here.

**The U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market, (9th edition), Marketdata Inc. April 2007, retrieved from here.

***Molecular therapy of obesity and diabetes by a physiological autoregulatory approach, Nature Medicine, Volume 15, Number 4, April 2009.

Source
Ohio State University Medical Center