Yale Study: Molecule Discovery May Help Treat Obesity

Yale University researchers announced the discovery of a molecule which sends signals to the brain when the body is full or hungry. The finding has the potential of finding a treatment for obesity, according to Gerald Shulman, Yale professor of medicine and cellular and molecular physiology and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The identification of the molecule was the result of a study by Shulman's team of a family of lipids called N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines or NAPEs, which are synthesized and secreted into the blood by the small intestines after the body has ingested fatty foods.

When the team injected laboratory mice with NAPEs, the mice ate less and lost weight. The lipids also cut the activity of hunger neurons in the brain while activating neurons which play a role in reducing appetite.

For the past 20 years scientists have been trying to find a link between the brain and how it communicates with the body to control eating. With the first phase of NAPEs trial on mice apparently successful, the Yale team is considering trying a similar experiment on humans.

Shulman, in a statement, said, "If chronic NAPE treatment is well tolerated and can cause weight loss by a reduction of food intake, we would have strong impetus to move toward with human NAPE trials."

The findings may pave the way to discover a more effective treatment therapy for 300 million obese adults worldwide. Shulman admitted there is a lack of effective medical therapies for overweight people because the current drugs available in the market have strong side effects, but have minor impact only on weight reduction.

The study, which was financed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, came out Wednesday in the Cell journal.