Restraining an enzyme might help us trim down, reduce appetite
Scientists with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also called UT Health San Antonio, noted weight loss and decreased appetite in obese mice treated with a novel investigational therapy. The team reported findings in the high-impact journal Cell Metabolism this spring.
The therapy slows liver enzyme activity, which leads to appetite control in the brain and increased energy expenditure in fat cells. The researchers are in UT Health San Antonio’s Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
UT Health San Antonio is the largest research university in South Texas with an annual research portfolio of approximately $350 million. It is the region’s only academic health institution, and its Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine is listed among U.S. News & World Report’s best medical schools, ranking in the top 30% in the U.S. for research. The institution’s strategic investment in research of metabolic diseases (such as obesity and diabetes) is a direct response to the heavy burden of these conditions on South Texas families. Our faculty are likewise committed to conquering adult and childhood cancer, brain diseases, heart attack, stroke and many other health dilemmas that rob people of life and productivity.
The Barshop Institute, named for legendary San Antonio businessman Sam Barshop and his wife, Ann, is one of the world’s premier institutes dedicated to the study of age-related diseases. The Barshop Institute is the only aging-intensive research institute in the country to have four peer-reviewed designations: two National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded centers (Nathan Shock and Claude D. Pepper centers), a testing site of the NIA-sponsored Interventions Testing Program, and a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.
Research led by UT Health San Antonio faculty has yielded new therapies for COVID-19, new treatments for chronic leukemia and post-traumatic stress disorder, and advancements in detecting and treating many other diseases. UT Health San Antonio, designated a Hispanic-serving institution by the U.S. Department of Education, continues in its 50-year mission to teach, discover and heal in service of the public good across South Texas.
Read more about the research finding of UT Health San Antonio’s Barshop Institute faculty that could result in a potential treatment for metabolic issues as obesity and diabetes.
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