Eating what we want, without repercussions on weight or health, did you dream of it? Science will make it possible! Researchers from the Center for Health Sciences at the University of Texas in San Antonio have developed a drug that prevents weight gain and unwanted liver modifications in mice, nourished with a Western diet (that is to say rich in sugar and fat) throughout their lives.
Limit magnesium accelerates metabolism
The research team discovered the drug while they explored the impact of magnesium on metabolism, which would therefore act on energy production and consumption in cells. This energy, called ATP, feeds body processes and plays many key roles in health, especially in the regulation of blood sugar, blood pressure and bone construction. But the researchers discovered that too much magnesium also slowed down energy production in mitochondria, which are the power plants of the cells.
They then had the idea of removing MRS2 on the mice tested, a gene that promotes the transport of magnesium in the mitochondria. The action led to a more effective metabolism of sugar and fat in power plants and an astonishing result: the mice found themselves thinner than before and in good health. The liver and adipose (fat) tissue of rodents have shown no signs of hepatic steatosis, a complication linked to poor diet, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The molecule defuses the misdeeds of a too rich diet
The drug, which researchers call CPACC, accomplishes the same thing. It limits the quantity of magnesium transfer in power plants. The researchers were able to verify it again on rodents: the result was the same, the mice found themselves slender and in good health while a too rich and sweet diet often affects by several pathologies, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications.
“A drug that can reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, and also reduce the incidence of liver cancer linked to liver steatosis, will have a huge impact. We will continue its development” conclude the researchers. Ut Health San Antonio has made a patent application on the medication.
“A revolution in terms of nutrition”
For Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, physiologist and member of the True Medical expert committee, the announcement has the effect of a small bomb: “It’s the miracle drug par excellence” he projects, before specifying the sensational side of the study:
“For a long time, in human clinic, we focused on the magnesium deficit which caused fatigue, stress, cramps, etc. But here, we are telling us in this study carried out on mice, that if we inhibit a gene that promotes the entry of magnesium into mitochondria, we have a metabolism of sugars and fat that is more effective. not develop illness, hepatitis or obesity.
The expert is nonetheless lucid on the steps that would still be necessary to see such a medication operate in humans:
“The important thing is to do a study in humans, to see if we find this kind of thing, because it would not be the first time that a molecule works in mice, and not in humans. But it is an extraordinary study track. We see something new that could help many people. We may be at the dawn of a real revolution in terms of nutrition. »