Activating calorie-burning fat to address obesity and metabolic liver disease

Antonio Zorzano

Fundació Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB Barcelona), Spain

Obesity and metabolic liver disease are major global health problems closely linked to cardiovascular risk and for which current treatments remain insufficient. Brown fat is a type of body fat that burns energy to produce heat and can help regulate body weight. This project will investigate whether a newly identified natural factor that appears to activate brown fat in experimental models also works in humans and could develop into new therapeutic approaches.

The research team will study the effects of the identified factor in human fat cells, test its potential in models of obesity and fatty liver disease, and design improved versions with greater stability and activity. Expertise in metabolism, obesity, liver disease and biomedical research will link basic discoveries with therapeutic strategies that can help improve metabolism and reduce excess fat.

The results from this research project could help develop new treatments for obesity and related metabolic disorders. In the longer term, it may help millions of people affected by these conditions and offer new strategies to reduce the impact of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases on health systems.

• Juan Bautista Blanco, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, M.P., Spain

• José Manuel Fernández-Real, Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona (IDIBGI), Spain

Development of Neuritin 1 as a Therapeutic Candidate for Obesity and Metabolic Liver Disease

€999,111.30