Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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The Fat-Busting Potential of Neuropeptide Y
July 02, 2007 7:06 PM
We generally shy away from reporting animal studies. It's not a judgment on their value to science, or on objections to how animals are treated; the problem is that the payoff in human beings may be far away--but television viewers may not hear that, no matter how diligently we try to tell them not to run to their doctors.
But we've been talking to Dr. Steve Baker of Georgetown University Medical Center for about a year now, and he bubbles with excitement about the work he's been doing. It's only in mice--there, I've said it--but he and his colleagues believe they've found a mechanism that controls the amount of fat in the body.
"It's really liposuction in a bottle. You know, you can take the compound out, inject it and basically the fat would melt away," he said when we sat down.
We posted a story about this earlier; if you haven't seen it, find it HERE.
Baker was on a team led by Dr. Zofia Zukowska, chair of Georgetown's Department of Physiology and Biophysics, looking at the chemical mechanisms behind the formation of fat.
Their major finding--made, as many are, almost by accident--is that a chemical neurotransmitter called neuropeptide Y is found extensively in fatty tissue. They've known about NPY for 25 years, but were mostly trying to see how it acts in the brain when one is under severe or prolonged stress. In this week's Nature Medicine, they report NPY appears to be a mechanism that tells the body to build blood vessels so fatty tissue can grow.
What's more, there's already a compound--NPY antagonist in their shorthand--that bonds to the same chemical receptors NPY would. The researchers gave their mice small injections of this chemical blocker, and the mice lost weight. Without changing their fatty diets or making them exercise.
Baker is a plastic surgeon. Some of his interest is in creating fat for reconstructive surgery. What the researchers may have found is a switch mechanism--a way to turn fat production on and off.
We've posted more comments from Baker and Zukowska HERE. They both say it will be years--if ever--before a fat-controlling drug comes from this. But Baker, more than once, said, "This is exciting stuff."
(Picture from Georgetown University Medical Center. The mouse on the left was given a high-fat diet, and subjected to stress--ten minutes a day with a more aggressive mouse. The thinner mouse on the right had the same regimen, but was given injections of NPY antagonist.)
July 2, 2007 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (11)
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And 6 months to a year from now, we'll be hearing from the T.V....Have you or anyone you know suffered from a heart attack or loss of life from taking_____________fill in the blank....
EVERYTHING ever marketed for weight loss, causes DEATH.....
Posted by: Kim | Jul 2, 2007 8:23:28 PM
Ah, yes. Death. The causes are legion. The chiefest of which is life. Others are exercise, avoidance of exercise, food (especislly if imported from China), drinking wine, not drinking wine, grilled meat, raw meat, etc. I am a firm believer in living life as you wish and being stress-free. You can live the healthiest life in the world d get run over by a bus. Please don't dwell in the domain of our current leader.
Given that, you're still right.
Posted by: Andy | Jul 2, 2007 8:39:04 PM
Kim: hahaha!
seriously, i have a revolutionary idea for weight loss: get yourself to the gym.
Posted by: tev | Jul 2, 2007 9:07:28 PM
Bring it on....
I know my obesity is stress related.
I might just volunteer for clinical trials.
Posted by: sparkleplenty | Jul 2, 2007 10:28:22 PM
My fatness is stress related too. I stress when I think about diet and exercise!
Posted by: bungee | Jul 2, 2007 11:35:47 PM
With the rising costs of Medical Services, you would think the government would put caps on drugs like Neuropeptide, to make it available to all of the overweight, and obese people in the U.S. I cannot fathom the thought that people (doctors) seek profit in what could actually make people healthier. Heaven forbid one of their own relatives should have a weight problem, that would be detrimental to their life. I say, give this to all who qualify, and if the results are good, then set a time limit and then raise the price to make a greedy profit. Thanks for reading. Steve
Posted by: Steve Medellin | Jul 3, 2007 1:33:23 AM
I suspected the link between stress- fat- heredity long ago, when I put on mucho pounds without changing my diet and kept it on, in spite of varied diets. I've wondered why the body continues to store fat when it has more than it needs? posted by soon to be svelte.
Posted by: Pagtricia Keating | Jul 3, 2007 1:49:41 AM
Here's the thing, by the time it gets released, none of us will live to see it. It annoys me when they make scientific breakthroughs, but they never make it to the market so that people can bemefit from it - i.e. cancer cures. It's not the FDA's fault, either. They release all kinds of dangerous drugs way before their time! I know there is a lot of overweight people who are seeing this, hoping for some help, but won't benefit from it.
Posted by: Suzie | Jul 3, 2007 7:45:36 AM
I think this is an interesting scientific breakthrough, since it reveals more about the mechanisms of metabolism, at least in mice. If the neuropeptide can be used in humans, it would be beneficial for people whose lives are in danger from their weight.
But I have to lament the "easy-way-out" aspect of this discovery, especially if it allows people to be careless in their eating and exercise habits. Why do anything healthy if you know you can get a shot or take a pill and your condition is cured? Why do we always seem to be searching for some easy solution to avoid the consequences of our behavior?
Posted by: chuck | Jul 3, 2007 8:08:15 AM
To Steve Medellin: The Devil's Dictionary defines a prescription as "that which will best prolong the condition with the least harm to the patient."
To Chuck: Science marches on. We're always looking for the easy way out of any situation. Otherwise, you'd be out scratching for food every day, and heaven only knows what you'd have to use for toilet paper.
Posted by: Andy | Jul 3, 2007 8:14:43 AM
Andy, I agree with your comments, except for the last one which I don't even want to think about.
Posted by: chuck | Jul 3, 2007 11:20:33 AM
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