Obesity conference hears how daily pill causes food digestion to bypass part of the stomach so fewer calories are actually absorbed by the body
A “gastric bypass in a pill” could help dieters feel full quicker and shed pounds, inventors say.
The new daily tablet produces a coating at the top of the intestine, moving digestion to the lower part where fullness hormones are triggered.
Manufacturer Syntis Bio reckons it could become “the go to drug for weight management” as it will have fewer side effects than powerful appetite-suppressing injections.
Gastric bypass operations have been performed by the NHS on the dangerously obese for over 20 years. They involve creating a small stomach pouch and directly connecting it to the small intestine, bypassing the rest of the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine. This reduces the body’s ability to absorb calories and causes the release of key hormones.
A new study, presented at the European Obesity Congress in Malaga, Spain, trialled a pill which works in the same way. It activates an enzyme in the gut to create a temporary coating in the top part of the intestine. Food cannot be absorbed through the coating and it directs it to lower parts of the intestines. Participants feel full before they have absorbed much of the food, so eat less.
Researcher Rahul Dhanda, president of Syntis Bio, said: “We make this to restrict absorption in the top part of the intestine, while the lower part of the intestine remains fully functional and unobstructed. The intestine is two to three metres long and this covers roughly 15cm at the top of it. It’s about directing absorption to the lower intestine.”
Glucose tolerance tests revealed delayed uptake of glucose and at 30 and 60 minutes, glucose absorption was far lower than in untreated patients. This delay suggests that absorption occurs later in the intestine, as expected, rather than in the coated region of the duodenum.
The pilot study was not designed to measure weight loss, but participants receiving a full dose of the pill, currently called SYNT-101, also received blood tests to look at hormones linked to feelings of fullness. They showed elevated levels of leptin and lower levels of ghrelin, consistent with reduced food intake.
The early stage trial suggested the drug is safe and the manufacturers believe it will come with fewer, if any, side effects when compared to weight loss injections. However more trials are needed to prove this and if it brings about sustained weight loss.
Mr Dhanda said: “What this does is integrate with the mucosal membrane which is naturally excreted by the body, and this goes along with it. You take the pill once a day in the morning and it should be cleared by the next morning or evening, depending on the patient.
“I anticipate the side effects to be minimal to none, and we haven’t seen any yet in human tests. That is because we’re not entering the bloodstream like injections do. It’s a mechanical molecule so it’s like we’re inserting a stent, as opposed to a drug that is acting with the target and also off the target.”