New compound may help develop metabolic disorders treatment: study

A new compound is found to be capable of reducing the weight of obese mice by acting on their intestinal cells, and it may aid the development of new therapeutic approaches in obesity-related metabolic disorders, says a study.

According to the study published Tuesday by the journal Nature Communications, bile acids are secreted in the gut, where they bind to the bile acid receptor FXR, an important regulator of energy metabolism, in intestinal cells and perform various metabolic functions.

The development of anti-obesity drugs targeting FXR is difficult because FXR signaling can have either beneficial or negative metabolic consequences, depending on the tissue in which FXR is expressed.

The compound, called Gly-MCA, can selectively limit the action of bile acid receptor FXR, according to the study.

The authors of the study treated five mice with Gly-MCA over several experiments and found that the drug reduced weight gain in obese mice and improved their metabolic functions.

They also found that the beneficial effects of Gly-MCA were due to increased energy expenditure as a result of increased heat production in so-called "beige" fat cells, which in turn occurred as a consequence of reduced production of lipid molecules in intestinal cells.

The authors proposed that Gly-MCA could be a promising candidate for the treatment of metabolic disorders and that their work in mice might aid development of human therapies. Endit