According to a Stanford Medicine study, diabetes drug metformin stimulates the production of lac-phe or anti-hunger molecule, which might pave the way for a new class of weight loss drug.
Lac-phe, discovered by Stanford Medicine researchers in 2022, is a molecule produced in the body after vigorous exercise that also causes less hunger.
The study conducted on humans and mice analyzed the role of lac-phe in metabolism, exercise and appetite.
“Until now, the way metformin, which is prescribed to control blood sugar levels, also brings about weight loss has been unclear,” said Jonathan Long, an assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the study. “Now we know that it is acting through the same pathway as vigorous exercise to reduce hunger. Understanding how these pathways are controlled may lead to viable strategies to lower body mass and improve health in millions of people.”
Notably, diabetes people who are prescribed metformin lose around 2 percent to 3 percent of their weight within one year of consumption of the medication.
During the study, the researchers noticed that the obese mice who were given metformin lost about 2 grams of their weight and ate less compared to their peers. They also found high levels of lac-phe in blood samples of type 2 diabetes people after 12 weeks of metformin intake.
Long said, “The magnitude of effect of metformin on lac-phe production in mice was as great as or greater than what we previously observed with exercise. If you give a mouse metformin at levels comparable to what we prescribe for humans, their lac-phe levels go through the roof and stay high for many hours.”
The researcher concluded, “These findings suggest there may be a way to optimize oral medications to affect these hunger and energy balance pathways to control body weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. I think what we’re seeing now is just the beginning of new types of weight loss drugs.”
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