New “FLAB Jab” Reduces Body Weight
- By BSTQ Staff
Researchers from Braasch Biotech in South Dakota have developed an obesity vaccine that stimulates the immune system to attack a hormone that promotes slow metabolism and weight gain. The “flab jab” uses a modified form of somatostatin, a peptide protein molecule that functions as a hormone. In both mice and humans, somatostatin suppresses growth hormones that boost metabolism and cause weight loss. The vaccine “flags up” somatostatin so that it is seen as a potential threat by the immune system, and it causes the body to generate antibodies that neutralize the peptide.
In tests, obese mice fed a high fat diet saw a 10 percent drop in body weight four days after receiving the jab. In addition, the vaccine reduced body weight without affecting normal levels of growth hormones, and its effects did not significantly reduce cumulative food consumption, which was confirmed by residual anti-somatostatin antibodies in mouse plasma at the study’s end. Two slightly different versions of the vaccine were studied. Both produced a sustained 10 percent reduction in body weight after booster injections were administered after three weeks. The slimming effect was not seen in a matched group of 10 untreated mice. Although the mice received large amounts of the vaccine, a recent unpublished study in pigs suggested it was effective at much lower doses.
Further research will look at the vaccine’s effects in obese pigs and dogs before moving on to human trials. If the vaccine passes further safety trials, scientists believe it could provide a revolutionary new weapon against obesity. According to the lead researcher, Dr. Keith Haffer: “This study demonstrates the possibility of treating obesity with vaccination. Although further studies are necessary to discover the long-term implications of these vaccines, treatment of human obesity with vaccination could provide physicians with a drug- and surgical-free option against the weight epidemic.”
The findings were reported in the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology.
