New Target for Obesity-Related Disorders

Inhibiting a microRNA that is overexpressed in obese mice and human patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type II diabetes could provide a new approach to treating metabolic disorders and even potentially cancer, scientists claim. A team at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign has shown that treating obese mice with an antisense inhibitor of miR-34a corrects the obesity-related abnormal expression of metabolic genes involved in bile acid, glucose, and fat metabolism, and led to reduced liver fat levels and the restoration of glycogen levels and insulin sensitivity...