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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 30, 2018 4:56 PM IST
BP3 being a natural protein rather than a man-man drug. © Shutterstock.
A new research suggests that naturally-occurring protein thought to cause cancer could help obese people lose their body weight. According to the Daily Mail UK report, the tests have been done on dangerously overweight mice and the researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center found that they shed a third of their weight after being engineered to over-express BP3. They described the effect as 'striking' which kicked in after just 18 days. The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
BP3 is thought to mimic hormones and is elevated in different cancers, which is why it has been investigated for its role in the disease.
But the new study shows it also appears to play a role in metabolism, as well as the storage and use of carbohydrates and fats.
The researchers engineered mice with a genetic predisposition to both overeat and over-express a protein known as BP3.
The senior author Dr Anton Wellstein reportedly said that they found that eight BP3 treatments over 18 days were enough to reduce the fat in obese mice by over a third.
BP3 also reduced the number of obesity-related disorders in the animals as well as causing the rodents to lose weight. These included the high-blood sugar condition hyperglycemia, which is often a sign of both type 1 and 2 diabetes. It also cured the animals of fatty liver disease, which can lead to serious organ damage.
The Washington DC-based researchers hope the treatment could be used to reverse these obesity-related disorders in humans.
And they claim that scientific testing could begin with minimal animal studies because BP3 being a natural protein rather than a man-man drug.
The protein has also demonstrated its safety, with microscopic examinations of the mice showing no side effects in the study.
Although unclear, BP3 is thought to promote weight loss by affecting metabolism. However, the researcher found that BP3 exerts a striking contribution to metabolic control.
It increases the signalling of several hormone-like substances that affect metabolism when levels of the protein rise.
The researchers further added that more studies are required before BP3 can be used to treat metabolic syndromes, although the results are exciting.
