Issue date: 3 September 2003

Hormone could help obesity

Wellcome Trust Media Information

Quotes from Wellcome Trust scientist Dr Rachel Batterham, lead researcher on the report on potential hormone treatment for obesity in the New England Journal of Medicine. This information accompanies the Imperial College Press Release [ www.imperial.ac.uk/P4384.htm] issued today.

What does it mean?

"This is the first time that a hormone has been shown to cause a long-term reduction in calorie intake in obese volunteers. We now need to do studies over a longer period to see whether the decrease in appetite and food intake we have seen translate into weight loss."

"If this passes clinical trials, it will not be a wonder treatment. People will not be able to continue eating high fat foods and drinking beer, hoping that this hormone would help them to lose weight. PYY3-36 would only be useful if used in addition to lifestyle changes."

"The obese people we studied had lower levels of PYY3-36 than the non-obese group. Levels of the hormone actually corresponded to the level of obesity in an inverse relationship - the lower the levels of the hormone, the more obese the participant. Low levels of PYY3-36 could explain why obese people may not feel full after eating. Interestingly, although study participants were not aware they were being given PYY3-36 or a mock treatment [placebo], they all said they felt less hungry on the day they were given the hormone."

"The greatest effect of hormone treatment was also seen in the most obese patient. Any NHS treatment would most likely to be restricted to those who are at most risk of associated disease, such as type II diabetes."

"Obesity is a global epidemic that is getting worse. Seventeen percent of children in the UK are obese. In the US, obesity accounts for 280,000 deaths a year. At the current rates of increase, it will pass smoking as the main cause of preventable death."

Time-frame and costs

"It could take two or three years for clinical trials to be completed. If all goes well it could take five years until it is used as a treatment. The hormone could be given to patients as an injection, like insulin."

"At current prices, one injection of PYY3-36 would cost in the region of £20 a day, compared to insulin at around £2 per day. These are very approximate figures."

"There is also early evidence to suggest that high-fibre diets may stimulate the release of the PYY3-36. Our future research will try to determine what controls the release of the hormone. If a food component turns out to have the same affect, it could be a far cheaper way of controlling the problem of obesity."

Contact:
Shaun Griffin, Wellcome Trust Media Office
0207 611 8612; s.griffin@wellcome.ac.uk; mobile 07710 307059

Notes to Editors:

Dr Rachel Batterham is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow.

Inhibition of Food Intake in Obese Subjects by Peptide YY3-36, New England Journal of Medicine, 4 September 2003.

The Wellcome Trust is an independent, research funding charity, established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome in 1936. The Trust's mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. Website: www.wellcome.ac.uk