Vaccine changes metabolism, causes weight loss

[n2doc]

Vaccine Lets Rats Pig Out, Stay Svelte
By Denise Gellene, Times Staff Writer
August 1, 2006

Scientists at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla have developed an experimental anti-obesity vaccine that allowed rats to feast on dry pet chow without getting fat.

The vaccine reduced levels of ghrelin, a hormone found in mammals that regulates the consumption and storage of fat, according to their study, which was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rats received up to four shots over nine weeks. The vaccine appeared to be long-acting: One week in a rat's life is the equivalent of one year for humans, the researchers said.The experiment opens the possibility of a vaccine that could one day help people lose weight.

Since the discovery of the hormone in 1999, scientists have been searching for a drug that would block ghrelin to help reduce weight. In the published study, vaccinated rats were allowed to eat regular rat food for 13 weeks. A control group of rats received an inactive form of the vaccine.The rats that received the active vaccine ate as much food as the rats in the control group. But by the end of the experiment, vaccinated rats weighed 20% to 30% less.

Scripps chemist Kim D. Janda, one of the study's authors, said the results were a surprise because ghrelin had been thought to work by regulating appetite.Instead, ghrelin apparently altered the rats' metabolism, Janda said, so that vaccinated rats accumulated less fat and more muscle.The vaccine worked by tricking the rats' immune system into attacking the body's naturally produced ghrelin. The vaccine was made of ghrelin to which scientists had attached a sea-mollusk protein. The immune system interpreted both the mollusk protein and ghrelin as foreign, destroying them.

Some researchers were not convinced the vaccine had long-term promise. In previous experiments, mice incapable of producing ghrelin became just as fat as normal mice.Yuxiang Sun, a ghrelin researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who was not connected with the current study, said that eating was such a basic human function that it seemed unlikely that a single hormone could govern appetite, fat storage and weight gain.Dr. David Cummings, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, said that the number of animals in the study — 17 — was very small, and that much larger studies were needed to confirm the results. But he said he thought the experiment provided strong evidence of the role ghrelin played in weight gain.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-fatvaccine1aug01,0,54340.story?coll=la-home-health

[Virginia Dare]

1. So does healthy diet and exercise for most people...

:shrug:

[bananas]

3. But not all.

[Virginia Dare]

4. Call me cynical...

but, I think they will market it to people who don't necessarily need it.

[nygiant3]

2. Normal Way

I don't see why scientists and people have to spend so much money to find a way to lose weight without doing anything, I don't see why people have to have some medicine or chemical to do it for them. I am fat, I was born fat and I know its unhealthy so I have been dieting and working out for the last five months and I feel great about it, if people just gave exercises and dieting a try it may work. Now I do know that some people really need those chemicals because of some problems but not every single person.

[BadgerKid]

6. Seriously, there is one magic drug

that used to be prescribed for fat loss that works by making your metabolism inefficient (sic). But that isn't in the interest of Big Pharma.

[mom cat]

5. Wow! Then I could eat dry pet chow without getting fat!

[Mistwell]

12. However

Given I like wet food, it might not help me :)

[KT2000]

7. More tv commercials??

Is it going to go by five different names with a huge price because it is only for certain people who need it?

[Mistwell]

13. Sure

I bet they market one for daily dose, one for weekly dose, one for "before/after you pig out on a meal", and one as a patch.

[Donnachaidh]

8. to hell with the vaccine -- get rid of the high fructose syrup

that is in virtually EVERYTHING that is packaged today. Then you'll see weight loss, and less diabetes. And tell the couch potatoes to get off their arses, turn off their TVs, and move their bodies occasionally.

[Nihil]

9. Agree with the bit about corn syrup ...

... but I *think* your last sentence might catch a few raw nerves ...

:popcorn:

[Mistwell]

14. Preach on

tell it!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Speaking of rats...

you can have rats of one genotype that are perfectly normal, and rats of another genotype that are obese. Even though they get the same diet and exercise.

Just a reminder to people who say it's all about diet and exercise.

[Mistwell]

15. You're right

It's much harder for some people to lose weight than others, that's true.

However, it's a law of physics that caloric intake and calcoric burn rates are finite things. If you eat less and exercise more, at some point you will in fact lose weight no matter what your metabolism.

[mopinko]

11. before my mom died, she got very fat

she had been a tiny thing all her life. but when her osteoporosis started leading to broken bones, and a hip replacement left her with nerve damage, she just couldn't stay active. the more she sat, the worse it got. it contributed to the loss of her mental capacity. a horrible spiral.
this could be a real boon to people who can't just "get up off their asses."