A patch of microneedles, with drugs known to turn energy-storing white fat into energetic brown fat would reduce abdominal fat build-up and prevent belly fat.obesity, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Small Methods. This innovative approach reduced weight gain in mice on a high fat diet and their body fat by over 30% over four weeks. This technique could help to solve the problem ofobesity without resorting to surgical operations or drugs with serious side effects.
An inexpensive method without side effects
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in China have implemented a new drug device that reduces excess fat mass into energetic brown mass. This new type of skin patch contains hundreds of microneedles, each thinner than a human hair, which are loaded with another medicine called thyroid hormone T3 triiodothyronine. When the patch is pressed into the skin for about two minutes, these micro-needles become embedded in the skin and detach from the patch, which can then be removed.
As the needles break down, the drug molecules slowly diffuse to the energy-storing white fat under the skin layer, turning them into energy-hungry brown fats.
“With the microneedles embedded in the skin of the mice, the surrounding fat started to turn brown within five days, which helped increase the energy expenditure of the mice, leading to a reduction in body fat gain,” explained the Professor. Chen Peng.
“The amount of drugs that we use in the patch is much lower than that used in oral, injected drugs, which reduces costs and side effects.”
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