Obesity is a growing problem and can lead to complications with another ailment -- diabetes. Researchers in Canada say they've found a key enzyme in the body that could lead to new drugs to combat both these conditions.
Scientists at the Merck Frosst Center for Therapeutic Research in Quebec say the enzyme is connected with both weight gain and the most common form of diabetes. Mice in which the substance was genetically engineered remained slender on a high-fat, high-calorie diet while normal mice showed signs of developing diabetes.
If drugs can be developed from this research, experts say, it could lead to better methods for keeping weight under control, or event prevent obesity. And it could open the door to new ways to treat the estimated 1.75 million sufferers of non-insulin dependent diabetes.
"It will take some time to find a compound useful for human based on our mouse model," concedes Dr. Brian Kennedy of the Quebec center. "But it has the possibility of being a really significant drug if it works."
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