BruceBlaus

Personalized Medicine: Smart Drug Clears Fat From Liver, Blood

Article
Current Medical News
Diabetes Care
+1
Contributed byMaulik P. Purohit MD MPHOct 19, 2016

Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München have developed a 'smart' drug that safely clears the liver of fat and prevents blood vessels from clogging up. Similar to a trojan horse, the drug enters the liver with a trick: It uses the pancreatic hormone glucagon as vehicle to shuttle thyroid hormone T3 the live while keeping it away from other organs, thereby improving cholesterol and lipid metabolism while avoiding typical side effects of thyroid hormone.

The constant rise in obesity and diabetes represents a major burden of our society. Fatty liver and atherosclerosis are frequent consequences of these metabolic diseases, but an efficient and safe medicine, which would reverse obesity, insulin resistance, fatty liver and atherosclerosis remains a major scientific challenge of global priority.

An international team led by metabolism experts Matthias Tschöp (Helmholtz Zentrum München / Technische Universität Müchen), Richard diMarchi (Indiana University) and Timo Müller (Helmholtz Zentrum München) report in the current issue of the journal Cellthat liver-specific delivery of the thyroid hormone T3 using glucagon corrects obesity, glucose intolerance, fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis without causing adverse effects in other tissues. "While the ability of T3 to lower cholesterol is known for centuries, deleterious effects, in particular on the skeleton and the cardiovascular system, do so far limit its medicinal utility," says Brian Finan, the first author of the manuscript.

Toward precision medicines of the future

"Part of our trick is, that we use the pancreatic hormone glucagon as a vehicle to deliver thyroid hormone only into cells carrying a glucagon receptor," says Christoffer Clemmensen, who led several of the key experiments. He explains: "Since there are lots of glucagon receptors in the liver, but almost none in heart or bone, our molecule concentrates thyroid hormone action to the liver while keeping it away from places where it would be harmful." . "The next task is to see whether this drug candidate will reach the same level of targeted tissue-selectivity in clinical studies," says diMarchi. "If the molecule shows equal efficacy and safety in humans, then this particular 'smart' drug design may indeed offer perspectives for metabolic precision medicine," summarizes Tschöp.

Background

The newly developed glucagon/T3 molecule delivered the T3 selectively to the liver and thereby safely improved within a few days cholesterol metabolism in diet-induced obese mice. The molecule further decreased body weight, corrected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and improved glucose metabolism without deleterious effects of T3 in the heart and bone. Notably, the molecule failed to improve metabolism in mice lacking either the glucagon receptor or which lack the thyroid hormone receptor in only the liver, demonstrating the liver-specific signal specificity of this new molecule.


Materials provided by Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen - German Research Centre for Environmental HealthNote: Content may be edited for style and length.

Disclaimer: DoveMed is not responsible for the adapted accuracy of news releases posted to DoveMed by contributing universities and institutions.

Primary Resource:

Finan, B., Clemmensen, C., Zhu, Z., Stemmer, K., Gauthier, K., Müller, L., ... & Fischer, K. (2016). Chemical Hybridization of Glucagon and Thyroid Hormone Optimizes Therapeutic Impact for Metabolic Disease. Cell.

Was this article helpful

On the Article

Maulik P. Purohit MD MPH picture
Approved by

Maulik P. Purohit MD MPH

Assistant Medical Director, Medical Editorial Board, DoveMed Team

0 Comments

Please log in to post a comment.

Related Articles

Test Your Knowledge

Asked by users

Related Centers

Loading

Related Specialties

Loading card

Related Physicians

Related Procedures

Related Resources

Join DoveHubs

and connect with fellow professionals

Related Directories

Who we are

At DoveMed, our utmost priority is your well-being. We are an online medical resource dedicated to providing you with accurate and up-to-date information on a wide range of medical topics. But we're more than just an information hub - we genuinely care about your health journey. That's why we offer a variety of products tailored for both healthcare consumers and professionals, because we believe in empowering everyone involved in the care process.
Our mission is to create a user-friendly healthcare technology portal that helps you make better decisions about your overall health and well-being. We understand that navigating the complexities of healthcare can be overwhelming, so we strive to be a reliable and compassionate companion on your path to wellness.
As an impartial and trusted online resource, we connect healthcare seekers, physicians, and hospitals in a marketplace that promotes a higher quality, easy-to-use healthcare experience. You can trust that our content is unbiased and impartial, as it is trusted by physicians, researchers, and university professors around the globe. Importantly, we are not influenced or owned by any pharmaceutical, medical, or media companies. At DoveMed, we are a group of passionate individuals who deeply care about improving health and wellness for people everywhere. Your well-being is at the heart of everything we do.

© 2023 DoveMed. All rights reserved. It is not the intention of DoveMed to provide specific medical advice. DoveMed urges its users to consult a qualified healthcare professional for diagnosis and answers to their personal medical questions. Always call 911 (or your local emergency number) if you have a medical emergency!