May 26, 2015

expert reaction to a study investigating a drug to promote weight loss in mice via formation of brown and beige fat

Different types of fat have different functions in the body and roles in metabolism, and drug which stimulates a specific enzyme involved in metabolism has been reported to protect against weight gain in mice. Publishing in the journal Nature Communications, the authors also report that the drug was able to promote weight loss in obese mice, and to improve aspects of diabetes.

Prof. Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London, said:

“This is a potentially important study as it suggests a mechanism that can set ‘fat on fire’. There has been a lot of renewed interest in the browning of adipose tissue and the findings have relevance to type 2 diabetes risk because it is excess white fat that is associated with type 2 diabetes. However, this study was done in mice where brown adipose tissue plays a much more important role in maintaining energy balance than humans. It also remains to be seen whether the drug has any adverse effects on blood pressure, as this has been a problem with some other candidate drugs.”

‘Stimulation of soluble guanylyl cyclase protects against obesity by recruiting brown adipose tissue’ by Linda S. Hoffmann et al. published in Nature Communications on Tuesday 26 May 2015. 

Declared interests

Prof. Tom Sanders is a Scientific Governor of the charity British Nutrition Foundation, member of the scientific advisory committee of the Natural Hydration Council, and honorary Nutritional Director of the charity HEART UK. Prof Tom Sanders is now emeritus but when he was doing research at King’ College London, the following applied: Tom does not hold any grants or have any consultancies with companies involved in the production or marketing of sugar-sweetened drinks. In reference to previous funding to Tom’s institution: £4.5 million was donated to King’s College London by Tate & Lyle in 2006; this funding finished in 2011. This money was given to the College and was in recognition of the discovery of the artificial sweetener sucralose by Prof Hough at the Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), which merged with King’s College London. The Tate & Lyle grant paid for the Clinical Research Centre at St Thomas’ that is run by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ Trust, it was not used to fund research on sugar. Tate & Lyle sold their sugar interests to American Sugar so the brand Tate & Lyle still exists but it is no longer linked to the company Tate & Lyle PLC, which gave the money to King’s College London in 2006.