Release date: 2016-05-10
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham Women's Hospital have discovered a new way to deliver drugs to specific sites through the action of nanoparticles, transforming damaged fat cells to burn fat.
Turn "white fat" into "brown fat"
As we all know, our body contains two kinds of fat cells with different colors: white fat and brown fat. White fat is responsible for storing excess heat for emergency use, while brown fat cells burn fat to turn it into heat. Since the discovery of adults with considerable brown fat, researchers have been trying to understand their mechanisms of action, hoping to ultimately treat obesity and diabetes. The initial study concluded that the production of brown fat cells was only associated with rodents and human infants, and subsequent studies have shown that adults can also produce these cells when exposed to the cold.
Adult brown fat cells appear to be randomly distributed in subcutaneous white fat cells and accumulate in the upper part of the chest and neck. In general, brown adipose tissue only accounts for a small percentage of the total body fat. Through the drug, the research team turned white fat cells into brown burning fat cells, leaving our body no longer preserved. At the same time, although this method has certain side effects, if the use of specific parts of the body is restricted, the side effects are very limited.
Accurate targeting of the "fat layer"
In the study, the researchers used drug-loaded nanoparticles to reduce overweight mice by 10% within 25 days without any side effects. These drugs have the ability to convert energy-storing white adipose tissue into brown adipose tissue that can be burned. In addition, the drug improves cholesterol and triglyceride levels and reduces the risk of diabetes when stimulating new angiogenesis in adipose tissue. It can also strengthen the positioning of nanoparticles and promote the transformation of “white to brownâ€.
It is understood that this technology utilizes the hydrophobic core of nanoparticle drug storage, uses PLGA polymer for drug delivery systems and medical devices, and embeds target molecules into the discovery of tissue and intravascular fat cells, turning nanoparticles into "Missile", looking for specific fat cells and releasing drugs to make changes.
Professor Omid Farokhzad of Brighma Women's Hospital said that this is a broader approach to treating obesity and we need to find an easier way to manage it. The team hopes to develop a method similar to swallowing that incorporates nanoparticles into the body by digestion and absorption.
At present, this treatment has not been clinically tested, but it provides a new method for treating obesity and preventing diabetes. Many people gain weight quickly after the metabolic rate drops. If this technology can help us completely destroy fat cells, it will solve more distress for more people who are easy to be obese.
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