Ghrelin, new hope for tackling obesity
US scientists believe controlling the effects of ghrelin, a protein known to promote obesity, may lead to a new way to burn more fat in overweight and obese people.
The role of ghrelin in appetite and energy balance was discovered in 1999.
According to a study presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology in Philadelphia, removing growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), a cellular receptor for ghrelin protein, makes mice to burn more fat and reduce weight.
Deleting or blocking the GHS receptor diminishes the so-called "white fat" tissue, activating "brown fat" tissue and thereby increasing the production of fat-burning body heat, the study found.
The findings show that GHS-R might make a better target for treating obesity in humans, said lead researcher Yuxiang Sun.
This "shows the complexity of ghrelin and its signaling pathway, and suggests the existence of additional unidentified regulators mediating the effect of ghrelin and/or GHS-R," Sun added.
Baylor College of Medicine researchers hope their findings would pave the way for the development of fat burning and obesity medicine in the future.
Source: presstv.ir
