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An experimental injection that triggers fat cells to self-destruct reduced abdominal visceral fat in a small analysis of participants from two phase 2 clinical trials, according to findings presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) conference in Milan.<\/p>\n
Visceral fat accumulates deep inside the abdomen, surrounding internal organs. Excessive amounts are associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drug, CBL-514, is designed to induce apoptosis, a natural process through which cells break down and die. Unlike weight-loss medications that primarily reduce appetite, the injection targets adipocytes, the cells that store fat. CBL-514 has also been investigated for reducing subcutaneous fat, which lies directly beneath the skin.<\/p>\n
In the current study, researchers analyzed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 40 participants who received CBL-514 or a placebo. Participants received injections into the lower abdomen, with treatment continuing for up to 12 weeks.<\/p>\n
Four weeks after the final injection, participants treated with CBL-514 had an average 12.01% reduction in visceral fat volume compared with baseline measurements. In contrast, the placebo group experienced an average 5.68% increase.<\/p>\n
At a later follow-up, conducted eight to 12 weeks after treatment ended, visceral fat volume remained 10.45% below baseline in the treatment group. Meanwhile, the placebo group experienced an average 11.76% increase.<\/p>\n
While promising, the findings do not establish whether reducing fat with the injection improves metabolic health or produces sustained weight loss. The analysis was based on a small subgroup of participants, and detailed results have so far been reported in a conference abstract rather than a full research paper.<\/p>\n
The treatment’s safety also requires further investigation. Previous phase 2 research on CBL-514 found that injection-site reactions were common, including pain, redness and swelling. Although most were mild or moderate, some participants experienced severe injection-site pain.<\/p>\n
Researchers are also investigating whether CBL-514 could help people maintain weight loss after stopping glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications. In animal studies, combining CBL-514 with tirzepatide reduced weight regain after treatment ended. Whether this approach works in humans remains unknown.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, larger clinical trials will be needed to establish the treatment’s long-term safety, durability and potential health benefits. Researchers must also determine whether reducing fat beneath the skin and around internal organs affects fat storage elsewhere in the body.<\/p>\n
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Sources: ScienceDaily<\/a>, Science Media Centre<\/a>, Previous phase 2 study<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An experimental injection that triggers fat cells to self-destruct reduced abdominal visceral fat in a small analysis of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60],"class_list":["post-662987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}