Wired News: Blood Feud Kills Off Fat Cells

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> Just a little something to read while you pass your time away. ;-)

> Blood Feud Kills Off Fat Cells

> By Philipkoski

>

> Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,63388,00.html

>

> 02:00 AM May. 10, 2004 PT

>

> Researchers in Texas have discovered a drug that makes fat mice thin

> and healthy, and it could do the same for humans.

>

> Researchers at the University of Texas MD Cancer Center in

> Houston found that a small piece of protein injected into obese mice

> helped them quickly and safely slim down to a normal weight.

>

>

> Why are cancer researchers fighting the battle of the bulge? Cancer

> tumors and fat have something in common: They both need blood vessels

> to deliver their food supply. The MD researchers used the same

> approach they've been trying with cancer: cutting off the blood supply

> of the offending mass until it dies.

>

> " We were looking for biochemical differences in blood vessels, " said

> Wadih Arap, an author on the study and cancer researcher at MD

> . " We hypothesized that blood vessels that serve (fat) might

> give us clues as to what is happening in tumor blood vessels. "

>

> They soon realized they could apply the same method to fat blood

> vessels that they had been trying with cancer tumors.

>

> They injected the mice with various peptides from their expansive

> peptide library to find one that would specifically attach to fat blood

> vessels and block them from supplying sustenance to the fat cells. Arap

> and his wife, Renata Pasqualini, a professor of medicine and cancer

> biology at the MD Center, were the first to use this method in

> live animals, in 1996.

>

> When they found the right peptide, they overfed mice for six months

> until they doubled in weight -- going from 25 grams to 50. They then

> injected them with the peptide through the tail. After about a month,

> the mice lost 30 percent of their weight.

>

> Mice in a control group, which received a peptide with no effect on

> fat cells, continued to gain weight even though they ate the same food

> as the treated mice.

>

> After the mice were injected with the peptide that attaches to fat

> blood vessels, they had a higher metabolism. Plus, physical tests and

> examinations of their internal organs showed they were healthier all

> around, Arap said.

>

> " They actually reverted to (a) state that was reminiscent of what you

> would see in lean mice, " he said.

>

> The fat cells that die for lack of food are simply absorbed by the

> body with no apparent side effects.

>

> The next step is to test the drug on non-human primates. Baboons are a

> natural choice, Arap said, because they tend to become obese in

> captivity. In three to five years, they hope to begin tests in humans.

> Although they didn't see side effects in the mice, Arap said it's too

> soon to say humans will be so lucky.

>

> In the United States, 65 percent of the adult population is

> overweight, and more than 30 percent are obese.

>

> Xenical, marketed by Hoffmann-La Roche, is one anti-fat drug now on

> the market. It's a " lipase inhibitor, " which means it blocks the

> absorption of fat. A common side effect is diarrhea, and FDA guidelines

> say the drug should only be prescribed to clinically obese people with

> a body mass index of 30 or greater, or a BMI of 27 or greater along

> with other health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol,

> heart disease or diabetes.

>

> A British company called Alizyme is in the final stages of FDA trials

> with a fat-blocking pill similar to Xenical. The studies found that

> after taking the drug for three months, patients experienced weight

> loss similar to patients on Xenical, but had 90 percent fewer severe

> gastrointestinal problems.

>

> The Texas researchers' approach is altogether different. It will

> possibly cause fewer side effects because it has a very specific

> function: to kill only the blood vessels going to fat.

>

> " Xenical essentially tries to prevent absorption of fat, " said Dr.

> Lawrence Chang, professor of medicine and molecular and cellular

> biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, also an author on the

> study. " (Our approach) helps the body burn up energy much faster. You

> can call it molecular liposuction. "

>

>