Compound for the treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia

Summary

Research groups from two Spanish universities have identified a new compound that affects the enzyme responsible for the digestion of dietary fats and thus can be used for the treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia. Both entities are looking for partners from companies which are interested in licensing this patented technology.

Description

Overweight and obesity are declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most prevalent diseases worldwide. The problems of excess body fat leads to a greater exposure to the development of other diseases such as type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, among others. Its therapeutic approach pursues, at first, a change of lifestyle habits that favor an energy expenditure higher than the caloric intake of the individual, reducing the accumulation of body fat. In cases where this is not effective, this conventional therapy is complemented with the administration of certain drugs. These types of drugs act by reducing caloric intake and improving the performance of the dietary treatment. However, despite their effectiveness, the appearance of various adverse effects exposes the need to find new drugs with similar mechanisms of action, greater efficacy and fewer adverse effects.

Following this objective, research groups from two Spanish universities have identified the compound Silibinin for the prevention, improvement, alleviation and/or treatment of obesity. This compound is of natural origin whose use has demonstrated safety in terms of human administration.

Silibinin acts by inhibiting pancreatic lipase, one of the enzymes responsible for the digestion of dietary fats. Thus, the application of this compound prevents the partial cleavage of fats. Consequently, the re-absorption and utilisation of such fats, which are excreted through the digestive tract, is prevented. That, together with the safety of its administration, leads to an improvement in the patient's health.

The universities have patented the use of this compound and are now looking for partners from companies related to the treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia interested in licensing.

Advantages & innovations

Effective treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia: Through the pancreatic lipase inhibition, silibinin prevents the partial cleavage of dietary fats, their reabsorption and utilization, so triglycerides are excreted. • Safe administration: This compound is of natural origin and its use seems to be safe for human administration. • Lower risk of side effects. • Low raw material cost: Silibinin is the main active compound in the extract of milk thistle seeds, so its production has a reduced cost.

Stage of development

Under development/lab tested

 
Contact/ source: Enterprise Europe Network (europa.eu)