Two articles open up on random targeted weight loss: the first nanomedicine that selectively targets visceral fat

Challenges against fat cells

The ability to target fat cells and safely separate unhealthy fat formation from healthy fat metabolism will be the answer
many people pray.
A major challenge in obesity treatment is that adipose tissue is not continuous in the body, but is found piece by piece in a "warehouse", making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location
in a specific warehouse manner.

There are two main types of fat: visceral fat, which is the internal tissue around the stomach, liver, and intestines, and subcutaneous fat, which is subcutaneous fat
anywhere on the body.
Visceral fat produces pot-bellied stools; Subcutaneous fat causes fat in the chin, chin, arms
, etc.
So far, there is no way to specifically treat visceral adipose tissue
.
Current treatments for subcutaneous fat, such as liposuction, are invasive and destructive
.

The new study uses cationic nanomaterials to target fat

Two new studies by researchers at Columbia Engineering School and Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) may find specific and healthy answers
to fat cell stores.
The paper demonstrates a new approach to treating obesity using cationic nanomaterials that can target specific fat regions, inhibiting unhealthy storage
of enlarged fat cells.
This material reshapes fat instead of destroying it like liposuction
.
The first paper, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, looked at visceral fat, or belly fat
.
The second paper, published Nov.
28 on the Biomaterials website, focuses on subcutaneous fat and chronic inflammation
associated with obesity.

The research team, led by Li Qiang, associate professor of pathology and cell biology at CUIMC, and Kam Leong, professor of biomedical engineering and systems biology, was a pioneer
in the use of multipolarization to eliminate pathogens.
The researchers found that adipose tissue contains a large amount of negatively charged extracellular matrix (ECM) to fix fat cells
.
They think this negatively charged ECM network may provide some sort of highway system
for positively charged molecules.
So they injected a positively charged nanomaterial, PAMAM 3rd generation (P-G3), into obese mice
.
P-G3 spread rapidly throughout the tissue, and the team was excited
that their approach specifically targeting visceral fat worked.

Unexpected results

Then something interesting happened: P-G3 turned off the lipid storage program in fat cells, and the mice lost weight
.
This is completely unexpected because P-G3 has an established function
in neutralizing negatively charged pathogens such as DNA/RNA cell debris to relieve inflammation.

"Our approach is unique — it's a departure from a pharmacological or surgical approach," says
Li Qiang, who specializes in obesity and fat cell biology.
"We use cationic charging to rejuvenate healthy fat cells, a technique that has never been used to treat obesity
.
I think this new strategy will open the door
to healthier and safer fat loss.
”

P-G3 contributes to the formation of new fat cells and also inhibits the increase in unhealthy lipid storage of fat cells

In both studies, the researchers found that the cationic substance P-G3 can have interesting effects on fat cells — while it helps with the formation of new fat cells, it also separates lipid storage from the fat cells' housekeeping function
.
Because it inhibited unhealthy lipid stores in enlarged fat cells, mice had more metabolically healthy, young, small fat cells, as found in newborns and athletes
.
The researchers found that this decoupling function of P-G3 also applies to human fat biopsies, suggesting translational potential
in humans.

"In P-G3, fat cells can still be fat cells, but they can't grow," said Leong, a pioneer
in the use of multipolarization to eliminate pathogens.
"Our study highlights an unexpected strategy for treating visceral fat and proposes a new direction
to explore cationic nanomaterials for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
"

New applications for drug delivery, gene therapy, and aesthetics

Now that they can selectively target visceral fat, Leong and Qiang envision several applications
.
Research published in Biomaterials demonstrates that a simple method can be used for aesthetic purposes; Like Botox, P-G3 can be injected topically into specific subcutaneous fat banks
.
Patent-pending researchers, they are designing P-G3 into various derivatives to improve efficacy, safety, and warehouse specificity
.


The researchers are particularly excited about developing P-G3 into a platform that can specifically deliver drugs and gene therapies to specific fat banks
.
This could change the use of many drugs away from systemic safety concerns, such as thiazolidinedione (TZD), an effective but unsafe drug that is a strong fat modulator used to treat type 2 diabetes, but it has been linked to heart failure and has been banned
in some countries.

"We were very excited to discover that cationic charges are the secret that targets adipose tissue," Qiang said
.
"Now we can reduce fat in a specific way — wherever we want — in a safe way without destroying fat
cells.
" This is a big step forward
in the treatment of obesity.
”

Selective targeting of visceral adiposity by polycation nanomedicine