A new type of weight-loss jab can help people keep weight off by tackling obesity’s underlying causes, researchers say.
The drug, called RES-010, is designed to block an RNA molecule called miR-22 – which experts have described as a “master controller” of many processes involved in obesity.
These include how the body breaks down and uses fats; the production and activity of mitochondria, the tiny structures that provide cells with energy; and changes in how body fat is organised and how it functions.
The researchers hope the new drug, administered via a weekly injection, will help with all of these functions and lead to weight loss that lasts.
Obese mice who were given RES-010 lost weight despite eating the same amount as mice who were not given the drug, researchers told the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna, Austria.
What is more, the mice did not regain weight after they stopped being given the drug.