Scientists believe they are on the cusp of creating the ‘holy grail’ of weight loss medications which reduce appetite without the nauseous side effects.
Early studies show a drug can effectively ‘switch on’ particular cells within the nervous system that play an important role in maintaining energy balance and sugar control.
It could eventually rival the likes of Wegovy and Mounjaro – two jabs that have already transformed the future of weight loss and helped millions globally to lose weight.
While these two are very effective, they can cause debilitating side effects such as nausea and sickness which means some people cannot continue to use them.
Now, new research shows that activating certain cells within the body’s nervous system, called Neurokinin 2 Receptors (NK2R), increased calorie-burning and lowered appetite without any sign of nausea.
This technique was also found to lower appetite without loss of muscle mass, another potential side-effect from current treatments.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen tested the effect of activating NK2Rs which they believed, plays a role in maintaining energy balance and glucose control.
Trials conducted first on mice found activating the receptor safely increase calorie-burning and also lowered appetite without any signs of nausea.
It could eventually rival the likes of Wegovy and Mounjaro – two jabs that have already transformed the future of weight loss and helped millions globally to lose weight
This, they say, is especially important given our bodies seem to be burning fewer calories at rest than they did a few decades ago.
Further studies on primates with type 2 diabetes and obesity showed that NK2R activation lowered body weight and reversed their diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity and lowering blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol.
Scientists said the findings, published in the journal Nature, represent ‘a big step forward’ in developing new drug therapies for those with both type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Zach Gerhart-Hines, an associate professor of metabolic research, said: ‘While GLP-1-based therapies have revolutionised patient care for obesity and type 2 diabetes, safely harnessing energy expenditure and controlling appetite without nausea remain two Holy Grails in this field.
‘By addressing these needs, we believe our discovery will propel current approaches to make more tolerable, effective treatments accessible to millions more individuals.’
Earlier this month the UK medicines watchdog has received reports of ten deaths linked to the use of weight loss jabs, it has revealed.
There have also been 7,228 reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea associated with the likes of Wegovy and Ozempic.
Of these, 68 patients were admitted to hospital, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.
NHS-backed data source OpenPrescribing shows soaring prescriptions for semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy
The numbers are based on users or healthcare workers informing the regulator of adverse reactions to the drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs).
A reported death or adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that someone had a suspicion it may have been.
Underlying or concurrent illnesses and other medicines the patients may have been taken at the time of their death may be responsible and such events can also be coincidental, it told trade magazine Chemist and Druggist.
The MHRA last week urged healthcare professionals to ‘report cases of misuse’ and ‘inform patients about the common and serious side effects associated with GLP-1RAs’.
At the time, it said it knew of 46 hospitalisations as of August 16 – suggesting there have been an additional 22 reports in two months, representing a 48 per cent increase.
The alert warned healthcare professionals to ‘be aware there have been reports of potential misuse of GLP-1RAs for unauthorised indications such as aesthetic weight loss’.
The regulator said that ‘healthcare professionals should… be alert for signs of misuse of these medicines in their patients, warn these patients that they are at risk of side effects and report any adverse reactions’.
It added that patients should also be warned of the risk of counterfeit GLP-1RA medicines for weight loss if not prescribed by a registered healthcare professional and be aware that some falsified medicines have been found to contain insulin’.