A team of Japanese scientists has discovered protein isoforms that increase during exercise and help burn fat. The discovery could pave the way for the development of a new drug that helps users lose weight without dieting.

In a study published in the European journal Molecular Metabolism , scientists at Kobe University School of Medicine and other institutions looked at different versions of the protein PGC-1a that are produced in skeletal muscle when people exercise. They found that the greater the increase in these protein isoforms, the more energy a person expends.

The researchers found that the increase in PGC-1a protein was mainly due to up-regulation of alternative isoforms, which play an important role in increasing the adaptive capacity of energy expenditure.

The team also found that mice lacking these protein isoforms often had a reduced ability to burn energy during exercise, leading to obesity and hyperinsulinemia.

When the team examined skeletal muscle in humans, the alternative PGC-1a protein isoforms also increased during exercise, suggesting that individual differences in the amount of the protein isoforms produced may account for differences in weight loss even when people perform the same exercise for the same amount of time.

Currently, appetite suppressants are commonly prescribed to treat obesity. However, the new findings open up hope for the development and production of new drugs that can help increase PGC-1a protein isoforms without exercise and diet.

Research team member, Professor Wataru Ogawa at Kobe University, said that scientists and doctors are currently focusing on the goal of limiting obesity and if the new findings can eliminate this condition, in the future it will be possible to find many feasible methods to help treat many different diseases.

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