May 3, 2024

Magnesium Magic: New Drug Delivers Weight Loss Even on Sugary, Fatty Diet

” When we provide this drug to the mice for a short time, they begin slimming down. They all become slim,” said Madesh Muniswamy, PhD, teacher of medicine in the health science centers Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.

” A drug that can decrease the danger of cardiometabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and stroke, and also lower the occurrence of liver cancer, which can follow fatty liver illness, will make a huge effect.”– Madesh Muniswamy, PhD

Scientists at UT Health San Antonio, along with partners from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, have actually established a small-molecule drug called CPACC that limits magnesium transport in cellular power plants called mitochondria. The drug has actually been revealed to avoid weight gain and adverse liver modifications in mice on a high-sugar, high-fat diet plan. By decreasing magnesium transportation in the mitochondria, the drug enhances metabolism of sugar and fat, resulting in slimmer and healthier mice with no evidence of fatty liver disease. The scientists have actually filed a patent application for the drug, which has possible implications in decreasing the threat of cardiometabolic diseases and liver cancer.
“A drug that can decrease the risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as heart attack and stroke, and also lower the incidence of liver cancer, which can follow fatty liver illness, will make a big effect.

Findings by the collaborators, likewise from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, were published just recently in the high-impact journal Cell Reports. Muniswamy, director of the Center for Mitochondrial Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, is the senior author.
4th most common element
The research study group discovered the drug by very first exploring how magnesium effects metabolism, which is the production and consumption of energy in cells. This energy, called ATP, fuels the bodys processes.
Magnesium is the 4th most plentiful cation, or positively charged ion, in the body after calcium, sodium, and potassium, and plays lots of essential roles in good health, consisting of regulating blood sugar and high blood pressure and building bones. The scientists discovered that too much magnesium slows energy production in mitochondria, which are cells power plants.
” It puts the brake on, it simply slows down,” said co-lead author Travis R. Madaris, doctoral student in the Muniswamy laboratory at UT Health San Antonio.
Erasing MRS2, a gene that promotes magnesium transport into the mitochondria, led to more effective metabolism of sugar and fat in the power plants. The outcome: skinny, healthy mice.
Liver and adipose (fat) tissues in the rodents showed no evidence of fatty liver disease, an issue related to poor diet, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Microscopic image of mitochondria within a single heart cell. Mitochondria highlighted in red were exposed to ultraviolet light. Credit: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
Small-molecule representative
The drug, which the scientists call CPACC, achieves the exact same thing. UT Health San Antonio has submitted a patent application on the drug.
The mice worked as a design system of long-lasting dietary tension sped up by the calorie-rich, sugary, and fatty Western diet plan. The familiar outcomes of this stress are obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular complications.
” Lowering the mitochondrial magnesium mitigated the adverse effects of extended dietary tension,” said co-lead author Manigandan Venkatesan, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Muniswamy lab.
Joseph A. Baur, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania and Justin J. Wilson, PhD, of Cornell are among the collaborators. “We created the small particle and Justin manufactured it,” Madaris stated.
Magnesium imitates a brake on energy production, researchers found.
Substantial ramifications
” These findings are the result of numerous years of work,” Muniswamy stated. “A drug that can minimize the risk of cardiometabolic illness such as cardiac arrest and stroke, and also reduce the incidence of liver cancer, which can follow fatty liver disease, will make a huge impact. We will continue its development.”
Recommendation: “Limiting Mrs2-dependent mitochondrial Mg2+ uptake induces metabolic programs in extended dietary tension” by Travis R. Madaris, Manigandan Venkatesan, Soumya Maity, Miriam C. Stein, Neelanjan Vishnu, Mridula K. Venkateswaran, James G. Davis, Karthik Ramachandran, Sukanthathulse Uthayabalan, Cristel Allen, Ayodeji Osidele, Kristen Stanley, Nicholas P. Bigham, Terry M. Bakewell, Melanie Narkunan, Amy Le, Varsha Karanam, Kang Li, Aum Mhapankar, Luke Norton, Jean Ross, M. Imran Aslam, W. Brian Reeves, Brij B. Singh, Jeffrey Caplan, Justin J. Wilson, Peter B. Stathopulos, Joseph A. Baur and Muniswamy Madesh, 27 February 2023, Cell Reports.DOI: 10.1016/ j.celrep.2023.112155.
Funders of this project consist of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense and the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics.

Researchers at UT Health San Antonio, together with collaborators from the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, have actually established a small-molecule drug called CPACC that limits magnesium transportation in cellular power plants called mitochondria. The drug has been revealed to prevent weight gain and unfavorable liver modifications in mice on a high-sugar, high-fat diet. By decreasing magnesium transport in the mitochondria, the drug enhances metabolic process of sugar and fat, resulting in slimmer and healthier mice without any evidence of fatty liver illness. The researchers have submitted a patent application for the drug, which has prospective ramifications in minimizing the threat of cardiometabolic illness and liver cancer.
Compound limits magnesium transport in cellular power plants called mitochondria.
A small-molecule drug, CPACC, developed by researchers, has actually been shown to prevent weight gain and liver concerns in mice by restricting magnesium transportation in cellular power plants, thus enhancing metabolic process and general health.
Scientists from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) have actually developed a small-molecule drug that prevents weight gain and adverse liver changes in mice fed a high-sugar, high-fat Western diet throughout life.