Scientists Remove Fat Without Surgery

After receiving an injection that blocks the activation of fat cells, obese mice lost up to forty percent of their belly fat -- an advance that could be tested in humans within two years.

The study, published yesterday in Nature Medicine, was conducted at Georgetown University, where researchers noticed that stressed mice gained more weight than non-stressed mice, even when they ate the same food.

The disparity was apparently caused by high levels of neuropeptide Y, an appetite hormone linked to obesity and stimulated by stress. When the scientists injected the obese mice with a chemical that prevented the hormone from activating cells, the mice quickly lost fat.

While cautioning that the safety and effectiveness of the approach remains to be proven in people, other researchers said the findings reveal new clues about the basic biology of fat and why obesity has been increasing so quickly, particularly in Western countries.

"There is a lot of uncontrollable stress right now in our societies.
There's also a lot of inexpensive high-fat food," said Mary F. Dallman of the University of California, San Francisco, who co-wrote a commentary accompanying the research. "This could help explain the obesity epidemic."

Related Wired coverage here, here and here.

Scientists discover stress-obesity switch [Washington Post]