Research

Longer Term Stabilization of Body Weight in Ob/Ob Mice by a Shorter Treatment with CC Compounds

Daily subcutaneous injection of leptin deficient diabetic Ob/Ob mice (kept on standard diet) with selected ZKC compounds (ZKC1 and ZKC19; 4.5 mg/1 kg) for 14 days resulted in strong reductions of additional weight gain between the treatment-free days 15-48, as shown in the TABLE.

Further research is aimed at finding the most effective, the least toxic, and commercially most affordable ZKC analog from a list of already synthesized 45 compounds, which then can be developed for human use.

The Mechanism of Action.

Between days 15 (one day after the last treatment) and day 48, untreated and ZKC1 treated Ob/Ob mice consumed about 1.25-times and about 1.1-times more food, respectively, compared to normal weight mice. This clearly indicates that ZKC1 treatment has a post-treatment long-term inhibitory effect on food consumption in ob/ob mice. Although the mechanism is still under investigation, it appears that reduced food consumption explains the weight control effect of ZKC1.

It is also presently unknown how ZKC compounds may affect visceral fat, an important regulator of metabolism. This is presently also under investigation.