All slim things come in threes: Triple hormone against obesity and diabetes
09.12.2014 11:37
A new active ingredient that combines the effects of three gastrointestinal hormones lowers blood sugar levels and reduces body fat to an unprecedented extent. Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), together with Indiana University, have thus added a new dimension to their novel therapeutic approach against type 2 diabetes and obesity. The researchers had already constructed several unimolecular hormone duos that combined the effects of two metabolically active hormones. For the first time, the researchers have now succeeded in producing an active ingredient of previously unattained potency using a finely tuned combination of three metabolically active components (GLP-1, GIP, glucagon). The results have now been published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The team led by Matthias Tschöp (Helmholtz Diabetes Center at HMGU and Chair of Metabolic Diseases at TUM) and Richard DiMarchi (Indiana University) is researching novel therapeutic approaches for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Their focus is on the design of new molecules that combine the effects of various metabolic hormones. Recently, the scientists succeeded in developing hormone-like molecular structures that possess the potential of two such messenger substances* and can thus trigger more significant metabolic improvements than previously possible with known drug approaches.