It’s everyone’s dream to shed those extra kilos without going through tedious diets. Well, a new drug has shown the potential to turn this dream into reality.
The Phase 1 clinical trial of the new drug, KDS2010, on mice, has successfully reduced weight and fat mass in obese mice on a high-fat diet.
Interestingly, the results were observed without disrupting the mice’s appetite.
According to the scientists, if the human trials are successful, this drug could become a revolutionary treatment for people with obesity. This drug may help people lose without losing their appetite or avoiding fat. The research was led by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Korea.
“Previous obesity treatments targeting the hypothalamus mainly focused on neuronal mechanisms related to appetite regulation. To overcome this, we focused on the non-neuronal ‘astrocytes’ and identified that reactive astrocytes are the cause of obesity,” IBS neuroscientist Moonsun Sa, first author of the study, said in a statement.
According to researchers, the drug allows GABRA5 neurons to function normally and promote weight loss. The team claims that the KDS2010 treatment “yielded remarkable results in obese mice.”
A biotech company, Neurobiogen, is affiliated with the research team and it is currently undertaking Phase 1 clinical trials with KDS2010.
The findings of the study were published in Nature Metabolism.
