Weight-loss shots such as Ozempic and Wegovy have been hailed as the future of obesity treatment — but some users are debilitated by nausea and regain lost weight once they stop the injections.
Both problems could be addressed with a new weight-loss therapy that has shown promising results in a new group of lean mice.
Currently, this potential weight-loss miracle is known as GEP44.
it is similar to other weight loss needle Because it interacts with gut hormone receptors to signal satiety, suppress appetite, and normalize blood sugar.
The difference is that it activates multiple receptors, not just one — which appears to be the key to bypassing nausea and vomiting.
Obese mice were given GEP44, which caused them to eat 80 percent less than normal.
At the end of the 16-day study, they had lost 12 percent of their body weight and showed no signs of nausea.
Shrews also took part in the study, as the mice did not vomit and did not show any signs of illness.
The researchers found that GEP44 not only reduces eating, but also promotes calorie burning.
The study, led by Dr. Robert Doyle of Syracuse University and Dr. Christian Ross of Seattle Children’s Research Institute, was presented Wednesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
The latest results also showed that mice treated with GEP44 maintained their new, leaner physiques even after treatment ended, which is not usually the case with GEP44-treated mice Currently Approved Drugssaid Dr. Doyle.
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The therapy also lowers blood sugar by drawing glucose into muscle tissue, where it can be used as fuel, and by converting certain cells in the pancreas into insulin-producing cells, helping to replace those damaged by diabetes .
The researchers have patented their compound and plan to test it in primates.
“For a long time, we thought you couldn’t separate weight loss from nausea and vomiting because they were related to the same part of the brain,” Dr. Doyle said.
Uncoupling these two pathways may also have implications for chemotherapy, which would lead to similar side effects.
“What if we could keep the benefit of the chemotherapy drug but tell the part of the brain that causes vomiting and nausea to turn it off? Then we could give patients higher doses so they would have a better prognosis, and They also have a better quality of life while receiving chemotherapy,” he said.