An experimental drug kills fat cells, rather than shrinking them

An experimental drug may melt away a dangerous type of fat that packs around internal organs. The drug, called CBL-514, specifically triggers fat cells to enter a death program called apoptosis. People who got injections of the experimental drug in their lower abdomens lost visceral fat, researchers reported October 1 at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan, Italy.

Visceral fat sits deep in the abdomen where it chokes organs and can spur inflammation and health problems. Weight loss can shrink fat cells, but the cells are still there, poised to balloon up again. The team already knew the experimental drug could reduce subcutaneous fat, the pinchable fat that sits under the skin, in the abdomen.

That surface fat doesn’t carry the same health risks that visceral fat does. In the new study, researchers examined MRIs from a subset of participants in two small clinical trials to track visceral fat levels. Study participants, who ranged from healthy weights to overweight, got injections of CBL-514 or placebo every three weeks for up to 12 weeks.

The two groups started with about the same amount of visceral fat; 642.5 milliliters on average in the CBL-514 group and 677.4 milliliters in the placebo group. Four weeks after treatment, those who got the experimental drug had dropped almost 71 mL of visceral fat (a 12 percent decrease), while the placebo group gained 31 mL (a nearly 6 percent increase) of the dangerous fat in their abdomens. Measurements taken at eight to 12 weeks after treatment showed the gap had widened.

Those who got the experimental drug lost almost 63 mL — about a quarter cup — of visceral fat on average while the placebo group gained more than 78 mL of visceral fat over the starting point. Those results suggest that the drug might have health benefits by reducing visceral fat, which contributes to diabetes and heart problems. Larger clinical trials to test efficacy and safety of the drug are ongoing.