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Steroids for Obesity — A New Treatment?

by Karishma Abhishek on Apr 2 2022 8:56 AM

Once a week dose of a steroid called, prednisone is found to reduce obesity by decreasing the fats and increasing muscle mass.

Steroids for Obesity — A New Treatment?
Obesity may be treated using weekly therapy of a steroid — prednisone as per a study at Northwestern University, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
A daily dose of prednisone for immune conditions has often been documented with weight gain and the development of diabetes-like side effects.

However, a new study in the mice model shows that once-weekly dose of prednisone had improved exercise endurance, stronger body, increased lean body mass & muscle metabolism, and reduced weight.

In addition, the mice were also found to have increased adiponectin levels — a fat-derived hormone that appears to play an important role in protecting against diabetes and insulin resistance.

“Daily prednisone is known to promote obesity and even metabolic syndrome — a disorder with elevated blood lipids and blood sugar and weight gain. So, these results, in which we intermittently ‘pulse’ the animals with once-weekly prednisone, are strikingly different. Obesity is a major problem, and the idea that once-weekly prednisone could promote nutrient uptake into muscle might be an approach to treating obesity.” “These studies were done in mice. However, if these same pathways hold true in humans, then once-weekly prednisone could benefit obesity,” says senior author Dr. Elizabeth McNally, director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Hence choosing the right dose of prednisone may help in minimizing atrophy factors and maximizing positive markers like adiponectin, thereby proving a potential therapy.

Source-Medindia


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