Scientists discover enzyme responsible for weight loss
Scientists discover enzyme responsible for weight loss
Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz (Austria) have found that the enzyme ATGL causes cachexia, a metabolic imbalance prevalent in patients with terminal cancer that causes weight loss as a result of decreased fat mass and muscle.
Indeed, cachexia, which is accompanied by weakness and fatigue, is responsible for 15 percent of the deaths of these patients, while also appearing in chronic diseases like heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) other infectious diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis.
The results of this research, published in the latest issue of journal Science, states that enzyme breaks down fats stored in fat cells, resulting in loss of adipose tissue. "When we inhibited the ATGL in mice, this loss does not occur," said Rudi Zechner, one of the study's authors, told SINC to the agency, collected by Europe Press.
It has also been observed that in these cases the animals lose muscle mass when not, to date, studies have focused on the lack of this mass and there was little information on the reduction of fat.
Following this discovery, experts now betting develop inhibitors to treat cachexia in patients, which will not be immediate. "We need to first understand the role of ATGL and lipolysis in cancer cells, and also determines the beneficial effects of inhibitors," says the expert.
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