Scripps researchers create compounds with potential to treat range of disorders, inc obesity and diabetes

Scientists from the Florida, USA, campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the potential effectiveness of these compounds in treating a remarkable range of disorders - including obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and serious sleep disorders. The study was published on March 29, 2012, in an advance, on-line edition of the journal Nature.

The study showed that, when administered in animal models, the synthetic small molecules altered circadian rhythm and the pattern of core clock gene expression in the brain's hypothalamus, the site of the master cellular clock that synchronizes daily rhythms in mammals; circadian rhythms are the physiological processes that respond to a 24-hour cycle of light and dark and are present in most living things.

When given to diet-induced obese mice, these same small molecules decreased obesity by reducing fat mass and markedly improving cholesterol levels and hyperglycemia - chronically high blood sugar levels that frequently lead to diabetes.