Scientists have developed a synthetic compound that mimics a flavonoid found in the leaves of the primula tree, a plant native to South and Central Africa, which could lead to significant weight loss in women but not in men.
The study, published in the Chemistry & Biology journal, found that a compound known as 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) mimics the physiological effects of a hormone called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is secreted after exercise and tells the body to burn more energy while suppressing appetite. The researchers found that administering synthetic 7,8-DHF to mice resulted in as much as 20 to 30 percent weight loss for females but did not produce changes in males.
"An equivalent diet pill in humans would allow people to maintain a healthy weight despite a high-fat diet," says Keqiang Ye of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and lead author of the study. "The pill would burn calories without affecting appetite."
To test the weight loss effects of 7,8-DHF, the researchers fed mice with a high-fat diet combined with 7,8-DHF. The results show female mice who were given the compound did not lose their appetite but burned more calories, became more sensitive to insulin, and lost more body fat while developing more muscle.
On the other hand, men who were administered with 7,8-DHF did not lose weight. On the contrary, the high-fat diet made them gain more weight and, once fat, the male mice were unable to lose weight with the help of 7,8-DHF.
What fuels the sex-specific differences are unknown, although it has been suggested in the past that the effects of BDNF are enhanced by estrogen, and 7,8-DHF is known to affect estrogen metabolism.
The researchers stumbled upon 7,8-DHF while looking for drugs that could treat neurological diseases. While the compound's weight loss effects have yet to be tested on humans, 7,8-DHF will soon be tested on human patients with BDNF-implicated neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases in patients located in China and Australia.
"This drug has been extensively tested in a variety of neurological diseases in both male and female animal models and exhibits very promising therapeutic efficacy," says Ye. "Clearly, further investigation is necessary to explore why it selectively burns the fat for the female mice."
Ye says humans and chimpanzees have been consuming 7,8-DHF in raw form for centuries. However, consuming the flavonoid in its natural state will not produce the same weight loss effects as taking it in as a synthetic drug. He also says it's not readily bioavailable, which means the body needs to break it down for it to be absorbed by the intestinal tract.
However, Ye says his team will look into producing a natural 7,8-DHF extract coming from the primula tree, but it is going to be expensive. And that should prove to be another ultra-lucrative cash cow for the multi-billion dollar weight loss industry.
Photo: Tony Alter | Flickr
