The gene FABP4 is highly active in adipose tissue and known to be a major contributor to obesity and related diseases like type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Hanyang University in Seoul have developed a way to silence the gene using a type of gene-editing technology called CRISPR interference.
When the researchers inhibited FABP4 in white adipose tissue—commonly known as the unhealthy white fat—they observed a reduction in lipid storage.
Then they tried it in mice that had been fed a high-fat diet, injecting them twice a week with the CRISPR interference system. The mice lost 20% of their body weight and showed reductions in inflammation and insulin resistance, the team reported in the journal Genome Research.
Researchers continue to look for weight-loss strategies that might be more effective than the current slate of FDA-approved drugs. Those products—Eisai’s Belviq, Nalpropion’s Contrave and Vivus’ Qsymia—have only been shown to reduce body weight by a small percentage.
Share this article
…
The Hanyang University team is planning further studies to determine how best to translate their gene therapy to people with obesity. They believe that similar “precision gene-editing technology” could be used to treat other diseases.
Read full, original post: Could gene therapy be the solution to obesity and diabetes?
