Injection of natural hormone promotes weight loss

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Self-administered subcutaneous
injections of a substance called oxyntomodulin lead to weight
loss and an apparent reduction in fat deposits, UK researchers
report.

“Oxyntomodulin is a natural hormone,” senior investigator
Dr. Stephen R. Bloom told Reuters Health, “which is released
every day after a normal meal and acts to make you feel less
hungry. This study showed administering it before a meal
decreased food intake and produced a very significant weight
loss, greater than other marketed or near-to-market agents,
over the 4 weeks studied.”

Bloom, of Hammersmith Hospital in London, and colleagues
note in the journal Diabetes that oxyntomodulin is one of
several gut hormones that have been found to modulate appetite.
It has been shown to reduce food intake in both animals and
humans.

To investigate further, the researchers conducted a study
involving 26 overweight or obese volunteers who were randomly
assigned to inject oxyntomodulin or inactive saline
subcutaneously three times a day, 30 minutes before each meal
for 4 weeks.

They were also asked to maintain their normal diet and
regular level of physical exercise over the course of the
study.

Body weight decreased by an average of 2.3 kilos (5 pounds)
in the active treatment group versus 0.5 kg (1 pound) in the
saline group. The oxyntomodulin group showed changes in levels
of the fat-related hormones leptin and adiponectin that
indicated a loss of fat.

The people in the oxyntomodulin group also ate less,
although there was no change in perceived food palatability.

Mimicking the post-meal feeling of satiety by administering
a natural hormone such as oxyntomodulin, the researchers
conclude, “may provide a more specific treatment for obesity”
than other approaches.

Moreover, added Bloom, “Oxyntomodulin works by a different
mechanism from existing marketed, and near-market,
weight-control medications, none of which are particularly
effective. An additional agent is very necessary if we are to
treat effectively the ever-increasing problem of obesity.”

SOURCE: Diabetes, August 2005.