A new study by researchers at Western University is giving new hope to people struggling with obesity.
Researchers have found that the elimination of a certain gene leads to a major reduction in body fat, at least in male mice.
The team, led by PhD candidate Brent Wakefield, deleted the gene called Pannexin 3 (PANX3) from mice in embryos. They then compared the mice with the gene to those who did not have it.
“The PANX3 knockout mice, without any exercise, had the same body composition as mice that were exercising,” said Wakefield.
In fact, the mice without the gene had on average a 46 per cent reduction in fat mass across the whole body compared to those with the gene. Their muscle mass ended up being the equivalent to mice that work out one hour per day, five days a week for six weeks.
Inflammation in visceral fat tissue, a major indicator of obesity linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, was also reportedly much lower.
“Deleting the gene had a greater effect than even exercise, which we know is anti-inflammatory,” added Wakefield.
Researchers plan to use the findings from this study to develop a PANX3 pharmaceutical blocker that could be used in humans.
“If we can block it, we can hopefully have the same effect as deleting it… We hope to one day help patients suffering with obesity,” said Silvia Penuela, an anatomy and cell biology researcher at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Researchers did caution that the finding is not a magic bullet that would allow a person to eat burgers and fries everyday without weight gain.
“When we fed mice without the PANX3 gene a high-fat diet, the differences in body weight were gone,” Wakefield said. “Diet is always really going to matter.”
The scientists added that a combination of healthy diet and exercise remain the most important factors in creating a healthier body composition.
The study was published recently in the International Journal of Obesity.
