New study reveals weight loss drug's effect on the brain read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/831-new-study-reveals-weight-loss-drug-s-effect-on-the-brain

Scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reported that, a weight-loss drug decrease the response to food cues in regions of the brain associated with attention and emotion.

In the study the drug, lorcaserin in the human brain revealed the mechanism underlying the drug's efficacy and provides insight into which individuals may benefit most from the medication. 

Christos S. Mantzoros, MD, Director of the Human Nutrition Unit at BIDMC said, we wanted to find out if lorcaserin was acting on these brain regions and, if so, where and how.

Mantzoros, and colleagues determine how the drug works in the human brain. They observed 48 obese men and women. Participants came into the clinic on four occasions for blood work, physical exams, measurements and weight-loss counseling with a registered dietician.  

On three visits before receiving any medication (Week 0), after a week of medication (Week 1), and after four weeks of medication (Week 4) exams were followed by two brain scans.

The scans were taken using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure changes in blood flow in an active brain, which suggests which regions play a role during a given task. During each scan, participants were shown 150 images of foods generally considered highly desirable, such as cake and onion rings.

At Week 1, the drug showed decreased brain activity in response to images of highly desirable foods in the attention-related parietal and visual cortices. At Week 4, the lorcaserin group in the fed state showed less activity in the parietal cortex which is responsible for integrating sensory information when looking at any of the food images.

Decreases in caloric intake, weight, and BMI were linked to strong responses to food cues in the areas of the brain related to emotion, pleasure and attention prior to taking the weight-loss drug, which suggests that lorcaserin could prove to be of particular benefit to emotional eaters.

 

Lorcaserin targets only a very specific serotonin receptor known as 5-HT2c. A previous generation of weight loss drugs was linked to this receptor, because their scope was broader, those products also had dire cardiac side effects including pulmonary hypertension and valve problems.