Most anti-obesity medications work by reducing appetite, but researchers in Barcelona may have uncovered a different path. A new study in Nature Communications suggests that activating brown fat, the body’s energy-burning tissue, could help protect against obesity and related diseases.
The team identified a protein called Neuritin 1 that plays a key role in this process. Mice with higher levels of Neuritin 1 in their brown fat burned more calories, gained less weight, had better insulin sensitivity and showed less liver inflammation, even when eating high-calorie diets.
“By increasing the levels of Neuritin 1 specifically in brown fat, we observed that the animals burned more energy, which helped prevent fat accumulation,” said co-lead author Dr. Antonio Zorzano of IRB Barcelona.
These results suggest a different approach from drugs like Ozempic that work by reducing hunger. Instead, Neuritin 1 boosts energy expenditure without affecting food intake or activity levels.
While the study was conducted in mice, genetic data in humans also show a link between Neuritin 1 and obesity risk.
“These findings point to Neuritin 1 as a promising therapeutic candidate for treating obesity and its associated conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, through a mechanism that differs from current approaches,” said co-lead author Dr. Manuela Sánchez-Feutrie.
Researchers caution that this work is in the early stages, and more studies are needed before considering applications in humans. Still, it adds to growing evidence that brown fat could be an important target for obesity and metabolic health research.
The study was led by researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) with collaborators in France, Sweden and the U.S. It was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), Generalitat de Catalunya, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERDEM, CIBEREHD, Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Junta de Castilla y León, Fundación Ramón Areces, Fundación BBVA, Fundació Marató de TV3, the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes, AFM Téléthon, the Robert A. Welch Foundation and the Swedish Science Council.