Oleoyl-Estrone

Posted By elissa on Jun 30, 2008 | 2 comments

Admittedly, I don’t keep a very close watch on what Big Pharma is up to, when it comes to the development of anti-obesity drugs…let’s face it, most of ’em don’t do much, and carry a significant risk of side effects.  Some of the sides are relatively harmless (i.e., anal leakage from Orlistat), while others are more serious (i.e., depression/suicide risk from Rimonabant).  And – to be blunt – I feel that both healthy weight loss and long-term weight maintenance are best achieved through significant lifestyle changes…which have added benefits for health, fitness and longevity.

Nonetheless, a pretty interesting “natural” drug is in the pipeline, that bears close watching: oleoyl-estrone. 

What the heck is it?  Oleoyl-estrone is a naturally-occurring hormone produced by adipose tissue, that helps communicate levels of body fat to the brain.  It’s a fatty acid ester of the estrogen hormone estrone, which – paradoxically – does not appear to have estrogenic effects when administered orally – at least in rodent studies.  Oleoyl-estrone causes reductions in food intake and body fat, without a loss of body protein.  It appears to be safe, and was used successfully in one case study on a morbidly obese man who lost 38.5 kg (almost 85 pounds) over 27 months of intermittent treatment with no dietary restriction.  Larger human clinical trials are currently being conducted.

Of course, rats aren’t people, and the one obese guy this was used on, was still obese at the end of the trial.  So while it looks promising, I’d hesitate to call it a miracle treatment.  Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on…which I plan on doing.