Benefits & Health Side Effects of
New Types of Obesity Drugs to Control Eating & Calorie Intake
Axokine Weight Loss Drug
Axokine is a brand new drug with hopes
of being a totally different kind of weight-loss drug. It's a man-made
chemical that mimics a chemical the brain makes to protect itself from
injury. It was designed as a possible treatment for Lou Gehrig's disease.
But when researchers gave the experimental drug to patients, they lost
weight.
Axokine Weight Loss Drug Affects
Leptin
Later experiments showed why. The
drug affects a powerful brain system called the leptin pathway.
Leptin is a chemical messenger that tells you when you've had enough
to eat. Obese people have leptin resistance; they lose the ability
to know when they're full. Axokine apparently bypasses this resistance
and flips the fullness switch.
Axokine Weight Loss Drug - Study
Mark P. Ettinger of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Inc. in Tarrytown, N.Y., and colleagues performed the first study of Axokine's
role as a weight-loss drug in obese people.
They put 173 of these volunteers on a
low-calorie diet. Some got fake placebo injections. Others got various
injection doses of Axokine. The study was funded by Axokine's manufacturer,
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
After 12 weeks, those on the diet alone
gained about a fifth of a pound. Those getting what turned out to be the
best dose of Axokine lost an average of nine pounds.
Axokine Weight Loss Drug - No Immediate
Weight Gain
Perhaps the best news came in the year-long
period after treatment. There was no immediate weight gain when drug treatment
stopped. After about a year, patients treated with Axokine started to
gain some weight.
Axokine Weight Loss Drug - Side Effects
There was a high rate of side effects reported
for both the weight-loss drug Axokine and placebo. Side effects that appeared
linked to Axokine treatment included skin reactions at the site of injection,
nausea, and increased cough. These last two side effects weren't as much
a problem in those who got the best dose of Axokine.
A large, ongoing phase III clinical trial
is now delving further into Axokine's role as a safe, weight-loss drug
in obese people.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical
Association, April 9, 2003. |
com