When it comes to losing weight, nothing works better than diet and exercise. But in the future, getting rid of the extra pounds may be as easy as turning on and adding a little new chemicals.
A team of Korean researchers have devised the technology that underlies appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that causes a feeling of hunger.In a new study published in the journal of the American Chemical Society on Wednesday Applied Materials & Interfaces, Researchers have created a gastric implant that releases a compound that kills cells in the upper part of the stomach that produce ghrelin (activated by light from a laser). This treatment may pave the way for minimally invasive alternatives to current surgical weight loss options such as gastric bypass and gastric banding.
First discovered in 1999, ghrelin is produced in the upper part of the stomach primarily by a structure called the fundus. If the stomach is empty and you haven’t eaten for a while, ghrelin is produced and released into the bloodstream, where it travels to the brain and is appetizing. When you’re full, your hormones go down. (Ghrelin levels tend to spike when people go on a diet, which can explain why dieting is so difficult.)
When it comes to targeting hormones for weight loss, scientists and clinicians have developed everything from drugs that block ghrelin to surgery to completely remove the fundus. However, the drug has side effects (ghrelin is also important for mood and bowel movements). Fundus removal is permanent and invasive and can cause side effects such as dyspepsia and malnutrition.
Implants (shown in blue and gray) create a feeling of fullness by compressing the stomach and, when activated by a laser (black), kill cells that produce hunger hormones.
Adopted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
A new implant from a Korean researcher is called an intragastric satiety inducer, or ISD. It is inserted and secured in the upper part of the stomach with the help of a mesh. The ISD itself is just a disc with a hole in the center to allow food to pass through. However, it is coated with an FDA-approved drug called Methylene Blue, which, when exposed to laser light, produces chemically reactive forms of oxygen, killing nearby ghrelin-producing cells and exposing the ISD to the laser. As long as you prevent them from coming back. Researchers have tested the device in tests in pigs and found that weight gain can be halved with just one week of use.
Because the treatment is reversible and the ISD can be easily removed, researchers hope that their device will be a viable option for patients considering future weight loss surgery. However, as physiologically similar pigs, like us, the device still needs to undergo rigorous testing and clinical trials before the device crosses and solves the problem of human weight loss.
At the very least, it’s encouraging that we’re not just obsessed with exercise and diet.
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