Anti-obesity drugs 'may still work in middle-age'

Conclusion This animal study has found that anti-obesity medications that increase serotonin signalling reduce food intake in “middle-aged, obese” mice to a similar extent as in young mice. There had been concern as both obesity and ageing are associated with rewiring of the main brain pathway involved in energy homeostasis. The “rewiring” leads to reduced activity of POMC neurons, found in the hypothalamus and these POMC neurons make hormones that are important in regulating appetite and body weight. A number of anti-obesity drugs (lorcaserin, d-fenfluramine and sibutramine) work by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin, increasing the activity of the POMC neurons. As a result of the rewiring changes, it was thought these changes might mean that anti-obesity medications wouldn’t work. From the results of this study, it seems that although POMC neurons may become less active as animals become older and fatter, they can be stimulated to become active by certain drugs – at least in mice. However, claims there could be a pill to stop middle-aged spread are not strictly true – as we’ve seen, this study simply found that drugs continued to work in older subjects. Further, two of the anti-obesity treatments tested in this study have been withdrawn from clinical use due to off-target effects (d-fenfluramine and sibutramine). The other drug, lorcaserin, was approved by the US FDA in 2012, but it is not approved in Europe and appears unlikely to be...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Medication Source Type: news