Natural Peptide May Help Reverse Obesity-Related Diseases

A new therapeutic approach using natural peptides may tackle the root cause of obesity-related conditions by preventing systemic inflammation.

A peptide (small protein) called PEPITEM could provide a game-changing approach to lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related diseases like fatty liver, according to new research published in Clinical and Experimental Immunology.

The researchers used an obese animal model to see if PEPITEM, administered via a slow-release pump, could prevent or reverse the effects of a high-fat diet on the pancreas. Excitingly, the administration of PEPITEM significantly reduced the enlargement of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and immune cell migration into various tissues.

Reversal Of Obesity: The Quest for the Optimum Therapeutic Target

PEPITEM was first identified in 2015 by Birmingham researchers who described its role in the adiponectin-PEPITEM pathway, which is involved in controlling the onset and severity of auto-immune and chronic inflammatory diseases.

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Obesity is a condition where there is excess accumulation of body fat which poses a risk to the health of the individual. It can affect children and adults.

‘A peptide (small protein) called PEPITEM can both prevent and reverse the impact that obesity has on metabolism.’

Obesity causes complex and dramatic changes in metabolism in adipose (fat) tissue, damage to the pancreas, reduced insulin sensitivity, and eventually the hyperglycemia that underpins type 2 diabetes.

It also causes a low-level inflammatory response across the board, encouraging white blood cells to enter many tissues including the visceral adipose tissue (fat stored deep inside the body wrapped around the organs, including the liver and gut) and peritoneal cavity (a thin membrane that encompasses the gut).

The latest research shows that the adiponectin-PEPITEM pathway also connects obesity, the low-level inflammatory response that is driven by it, and changes in the pancreas that precede diabetes.

Advance Towards the Development of Peptides as Anti-Obesity Agents

Dosing with PEPITEM while the mice were on a high-fat diet significantly reduced the enlargement of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and the number of white blood cells in the visceral adipose tissue and peritoneal cavity, compared to controls.

World Obesity Day 2023
World Obesity Day promotes practical solutions to assist people in maintaining a healthy weight, receiving effective treatment, and reversing obesity.

Researchers also looked at the potential of PEPITEM to reverse the changes brought on by obesity, by feeding the animals a high-fat diet before treatment with PEPITEM. Excitingly, they saw similar results.

PEPITEM is a naturally occurring peptide. Researchers have already shown it has effects on several organs and now for the first time, they have shown that PEPITEM is effective in a model of a disease process that is not driven by the immune system alone.

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It is difficult to offer precise information on how much a certain degree of weight loss can lower illness risk while treating lifestyle disorders and obesity.

Until now they have understood very little about how the inflammation that accompanies obesity drives pathology. Together these results show us that PEPITEM can both prevent and reverse the impact that obesity has on metabolism. The next stage is to translate these exciting results into therapeutics that humans can use.

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Source-Eurekalert