Science Daily posted an article about the possibility of an effective oral supplement to suppress appetite to assist with dieting for overweight people. The theory revolves around PYY, pancreatic peptide tyrosine tyrosine. This small protein, only 36 amino acids long, is released in proportion to caloric intake. It slows gastric emptying and decreases appetite. Previous studies showed that levels of PYY are decreased in obese people at baseline and post-prandial. Intravenous injection of the protein decreased caloric intake in a human study.
The difficulty so far has been that PYY is not well absorbed orally. Robert Doyle at the Syracuse has published a paper showing that he was able to deliver PYY orally and have it reach the blood stream in significant levels by attaching it to vitamin B12. The importance of this finding is that PYY could be put into a pill or gum that could be taken after meals to suppress appetite and prevent overeating. The finding was reported in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Obviously, simply taking an appetite suppressant will not magically solve the problem of obesity. It will assist people who are on a sensible weight loss regimen which includes exercise and decreased caloric intake. Some people eat even when they feel full, so this will not help that population. Depending on the percentage of decrease in caloric consumption, it may just slow weight gain; ie, if a person is eating an excess of 500 calories a day baseline, and the supplement decreases that to 200 excess calories a day, they will just gain weight at half the rate, but still gain weight.
Still, this appears to have a solid basis in physiology, and the protein and delivery methods seem to be straightforward and have no obvious dangers. I think it will be a useful tool to help people control their weight. I will definitely try the product when/if it makes it to the market!
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