Scientists say they are getting closer to a miracle pill that could help someone shed pounds without missing their favorite foods.
Ozempic and Wegovy have taken America by storm in recent years because of their ability to help someone to fall off by suppressing their appetite, causing them to eat less.
But the drugs do multiple side effectsincluded nausea, nutritional deficiencies and muscle loss, which can increase the risk of frailty and falls later in life.
Now researchers from the University of… CaliforniaBerkeley says they’ve found a compound that appears to cause weight loss through a different route: by boosting metabolism to increase the amount of energy cells burn.
In a study in mice, researchers found that the compound 5-tetradecyloxy-2-furoic acid, or TOFA, got the cells moving and prompted them to burn more energy, causing the rodents to lose 18 percent of their body weight in four weeks.
This happened even though the mice did not eat less or exercise more than before.
Analysis also showed that virtually all of the weight loss came from fat. This differed from GLP-1s, where a significant portion of the weight loss comes from muscle mass.
Dr. Anders Näär, metabolic researcher and senior author of the study, said: ‘Body weight responds to two levers: taking in fewer calories or spending more energy.
Scientists are investigating a drug they say could cause weight loss by boosting metabolism
“GLP-1s work almost entirely on the first, so we went with the second.”
He added ScienceAlert: ‘Food intake remained unchanged, physical activity remained unchanged and body temperature did not increase, yet whole-body energy expenditure increased by as much as 18 percent.’
TOFA was first discovered in the 1970s and has previously been tested as a potential treatment for metabolic diseases.
But it wasn’t developed as a treatment after scientists discovered it raised levels of triglycerides, a type of fat that increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.
The scientists emphasized that their research was in its early stages and that TOFA had only been tested on mice. It was not clear whether the compound would be safe and effective in humans.
In the study, published in the journal Scientific progressmice were initially fed a high-fat diet until they developed obesity.
The researchers then gave them TOFA orally twice a day for four weeks.
Analysis suggested that the substance caused cells to absorb more fat and burn more energy – up to 18 percent more than normal.
There was no evidence that the substance caused the mice to exercise more or stop them from consuming calories.
Overall, the mice also had greater insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control.
Almost all of the weight loss came from fat tissue, which the researchers said may be due to the mice eating the same amount of food as before – which helped maintain their muscle mass and avoid nutritional deficiency.
The article found no evidence that the drug caused a rise in body temperature or increased triglycerides, possible side effects. It did not say whether it caused vomiting in mice.
In a second arm of the study, researchers took a separate group of obese mice and administered TOFA and GLP-1s to them.
Overall, they recorded greater weight loss and metabolic improvements in this group compared to the others.
The study shows that mice in this group lost about 10 percent of their weight compared to mice given only TOFA or a GLP-1, for a shorter period of time than in the main study.
Researchers think this was likely because mice both burned more energy and ate less than before.
The scientists now plan to further investigate TOFA for possible use in humans.
Näär and two other authors are co-founders of the company ReRx Therapeutics, which is developing TOFA as a potential treatment, although this process could take several years.
