In a latest study, researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital discovered a new way to use antiobesity drugs to aid weight loss in obese people. The researchers used nanoparticles to deliver these drugs to specific parts of the body. This can be helpful in the elimination of fat from those parts of body.
The drugs help in transforming white adipose tissues which consist of fat-storing cells into brown adipose tissues that aids burning of fat and helps in weight loss. Also, these drugs promote angiogenesis process, where the blood vessels grow in fatty tissues, thus speeding up the transformation process..
Obese mice were taken as a sample of the study and after 20 days of the treatment with antiobesity drugs by nanoparticles, the researchers observed that they lost 10% of their body weight and were less likely to suffer from diabetes in future.[Source]
According to the researchers, these drugs aren’t new or something they discovered recently, but, what makes them effective is the way they are transmitted inside the body. Nanoparticle that are used to transmit the antiobesity drugs in body are made up of a polymer known as poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), which is widely used for delivering drugs inside body. Also, another polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG) is present on the outer shell of the nanoparticle molecule. PEG helps in targeting proteins found in blood vessels which surrounds adipose tissue.
To be precise, specific targeting feature of nanoparticles make them function like a missile, thus helping in eliminating fat from various parts of body. Also, this treatment has only been tested in mice and the trials are yet to be performed in humans.