Scientists Discover Potential Ozempic Rival That Could Help People Lose Weight With Less Nausea

Wegovy, eat your heart. In a new research paper, scientists say that they have discovered a naturally occurring hormone that could help people lose weight and at the same time avoid the side effects associated with Semaglutid (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegven) and similar medication.

A Stanford Medicine research team carried out the study published Last week in the Nature magazine. With the help of artificial intelligence, the team identified a previously unknown peptide that safely reduced the appetite and weight of mice and miniature pigs without causing nausea or other stomach -intestine symptoms. Further studies are needed to check the safety and effectiveness of the molecule in humans, but the results offer a tempting preview in the future of the treatment of obesity.

The development of Semaglutid and similar drugs in recent years Really revolutionary For the area of ​​obese medicine. These drugs that were also used for type -2 diabetes 15% to 20% decreased in clinical studies. Semaglutide works by imitation of GLP-1, a hormone that regulates our appetite and our metabolism (some medication such as Tirzidatid imitates both GLP-1 and other related hormones).

As groundbreaking as these drugs are, it is known that they often cause annoying GI symptoms and rarely cause serious complications such as gastroparesis (stomach paralysis). Scientists have also worked on finding and developing newer medicines that could deliver even more weight loss or offer other amenities, e.g. B. to be available as a pill. In this sense, the Stanford Medicine researchers developed a new strategy to find their drug candidates.

Many hormones in the body are only activated if their forerunners are split by certain enzymes. These forerunners are referred to as prohormones, and the family of the enzymes that they chop are called prohormone convert. The researchers examined one of these enzymes, Prohormone Convertase 1/3, from which it is known to produce GLP-1. You decided to see if you could find other useful hunger-related hormones that are of course produced by the enzyme. In order to speed up this discovery process considerably, they developed a computer algorithm (nickname peptide predictor) to narrow down the list of potential molecules that correspond to their criteria.

This screening found an initial batch of 373 pro hormones, which could result in around 2,700 different peptides (peptides are often the building blocks of larger proteins, but they can have their own characteristic functions in the body). From there, the researchers tested 100 peptides who knew or suspected, the hunger drive of the brain (including GLP-1 for comparison). And ultimately they identified a molecule that seemed particularly promising, a 12-amino acid peptide called Brinp2-related peptide or BRP.

The scientists then tested BRP on laboratory caves and miniature pigs (minipigs should be very similar to humans metabolic). They found that a single dose BRP significantly reduced the appetite of both animals by up to 50%at short notice. And obese mice that BRP was dropped significantly over a period of two weeks and most of the weight of this weight stored.

Other experiments showed that BRPS does not contain the GLP-1 receptor at all at all, and the animals simply did not experience the GI symptoms that are often connected to ozempish medication. The metered animals also did not experience changes in their movement, their anxious level of behavior or the water intake, which indicates that BRP can be safely tolerated if they are accepted as a medication.

“The receptors targeted by Semaglutid are located in the brain, but also in the intestine, pancreas and others. That is why Ozempic has widespread effects, including slowing down the movement of food through the digestive tract and reducing blood sugar levels. “Said Study Senior Researcher Katrin Svensson, assistant professor of pathology in Stanford, in A opinion from the university. “In contrast, BRP seems to work specifically in the hypothalamus that controls the appetite and metabolism.”

The results of the team are of course temporary at this point. It will take a lot more time and research, including previously successful clinical studies in humans, before BRP should be seen as the next big thing in treating obesity. However, the discovery of the team is the youngest, which indicates that Semaglutid has really triggered a change of sea in the treatment of obesity. In the pipeline there are now dozens of experimental medication that threatens to compete or exceed Ozempic/Wegovy, including different formulations by Semaglutid. Svensson and her colleagues have already submitted patents to BRP and she co -founded a company from which she hopes that you will develop the molecule for clinical use.

No drug comes without side effects, but the future of the treatment of obesity could one day contain much less nausea.