In the battle against obesity, Yale University researchers may have discovered a new weapon - a naturally occurring molecule secreted by the gut that makes rats and mice less hungry after fatty meals. The findings are published in the Nov. 26 issue of the journal Cell.  The report suggests the molecule may help regulate how much animals and people eat, according to the team headed by Gerald I. Shulman. The team studied a family of lipids called N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines, or NAPEs, which are synthesized and secreted into the blood by the small intestine after fatty foods are eaten.

Stirling Products has received the first approval for its patent application for “Methods of decreasing fat deposits and body weight in mammals and birds” in New Zealand. The patent relates to the use of the company’s R-salbutamol compound. The product has the potential to reduce body weight. CEO and Managing Director of Stirling Products, Dr Calvin London said that he hoped that a series of approvals in other countries would follow. The company has already conducted studies for the compound on obese male Zucker rats.

Researchers from Vitagenes (a company that is a  part of the Campus program promoted by the University of Granada) in collaboration with some Australian scientists have discovered a new pattern/model of the molecule called interleukin-6 that may prove to be a boon for the patients suffering from obesity and diabetes. It was injected daily for two weeks. Then, its behavior and effects on the metabolism were analyzed. It was found that the molecule can help in development of drugs that can be beneficial in preventing and treating obesity. The study has been carried out on animals.

Researchers are studying the case of a 27-year-old woman who developed a vitamin deficiency after failing to take multivitamins post- gastric bypass surgery. After two months of an uncomplicated surgery for weight loss at the University College Hospital, London she suffered from dizziness, vomiting and low-appetite. Also, prescribed lansoprazole (drug for prevention of acid production in stomach), the patient was found to be deficient in these medications. Only after physicians administered thiamine (Vitamin B1), the patient recovered.

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University have found a fat precursor cell that may explain how the number of fat cells might increase and cause obesity. The white adipocyte progenitor cells that have been identified can help us know the factors which control the differentiation and spread of fat. A technique called fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was brought into use to find out cell populations which could generate fat.

Leading pharmaceutical developer Merck & Co., Inc. will not be seeking regulatory approval for taranabant, an investigational drug, for the treatment of obesity. The company is going to discontinue its Phase III clinical development program. The available data from Phase III of the trial indicated that both effectiveness and incidence of adverse events were related to dosage, efficacy being greater and adverse events more in the higher doses. After taking this into account, the company determined that the overall profile of taranabant did not support the case for further development of the medication.

Researchers at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan have concluded that obese people are more prone to heart attacks than smokers. Cholesterol builds up in the coronary arteries. Fat cells produce inflammatory or other chemicals which prompt the plaque to suddenly break. This causes a blood clot, resulting in a heart attack. A total of 111,847 men and women who had experienced a first heart attack were included in the final analysis. They were grouped according to their body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on height and weight. All the patients, regardless of body size, had about the same level of LDL cholesterol. Smoking rates were equal across the group under examination. This means that excess fat causes heart disease in other ways. While patients with the highest body weight lost 12 years of life, on an average, prior to their first heart attack, smoking they took less than 10 years of life before the first heart attack.

A study conducted by National Jewish Health has found out that steroids (glucocorticoids), the chief controller drug for asthma, are 40 percent less effective in obese patients of asthma than in those of normal weight. Studies have concluded that obesity increases the risk and intensity of asthma. Steroids are meant to raise the level of a molecule known as MAP kinase phosphatase-1. But the blood cells of obese people respond less efficiently to dexamethasone.

A study has found an injection to be effective in fighting obesity when given to certain blood vessels in stomach, leading to suppression of appetite. Researchers at John Hopkins University School of Medicine chose 10 healthy pigs for the obesity study as they have a anatomy very similar to humans.The pigs were injected a chemical (named sodium morrhuate) in blood vessels supplying certain parts of stomach. This reduced the amount of hunger hormone produced in pigs, ghrelin, by 60%. Lower eating levels made the pigs lose weight significantly.The procedure called gastric artery chemical embolization (GACE) would be a better option for both patients ( who can recover sooner) and doctors (as it is easy to perform).

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) has collected data, the analysis of which concludes that Levemir ® (insulin injection), a once-daily treatment for patients of diabetes (type 1 and 2), can also lead to weight loss for insulin-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes. It provides a similar blood glucose response as glargine without any important difference in daily average consumption (DACON). The costs on pharmacy, too, remain the same.