Natural hormone molds leaner bodies in mice
A natural hormone that is increased by physical exercise and by exposure to cold improves blood sugar control, suppresses inflammation, and burns fat to mold leaner bodies in mice, report scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The hormone, called meteorin-like protein, or Metrnl, can be made in the laboratory. Its health-promoting properties make it a promising candidate for treating obesity and other metabolic diseases, inflammation, and possibly other disorders, said principal investigator Bruce Spiegelman of Dana-Farber’s Cancer Biology department. “This might have interesting therapeutic potential for several diseases,” said Spiegelman, the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Because it targets the immune cells involved in tissue repair it will also be interesting to see if this protein affects muscle repair in certain neuromuscular diseases.” Reporting in Cell, the researchers said that extra Metrnl injected into mice achieved some of the...