Both Cytos Biotechnology, based in Switzerland, and the Scripps Research Institute in California are independently developing a fat vaccine that could forever change the way people approach weight management. Imagine the possibilities... In recent history, vaccines have all but eliminiated tragic illnesses such as polio and smallpox. What if obesity could be eliminated in the same way?

Obesity has its price. In monetary terms, it costs the American people over $100 billion annually-costs picked up by everyone from the individuals themselves to employers, taxpayers, insurance companies, and Medicare. And that's just one way to measure the damage. Obesity can lead to severe psychological problems. It can damage one's self esteem and quality of life, and it leads directly to dozens of illnesses and diseases. What's more, obesity can shorten a person's life. Thankfully, a new solution may be just months away. Cytos Biotechnology CEO, Wolfgang Renner, believes that his company has a vaccine that can help people get slim and stay slim.

In California, researchers Eric Zorilla and Kim Janda, along with colleagues at the Scripps Institute, have developed one version of the obesity vaccine. In studies, this vaccine has successfully prevented male rats from gaining as much weight as their un-immunized counterparts-even though both groups eat the same amount. The vaccine works by inhibiting the hormone ghrelin, the same naturally-occurring hormone as that produced by cells lining the human stomach. These ghrelin cells stimulate appetite and regulate energy balance. Researchers believe that manipulating this hormone might cause food to be used less efficiently in the body. That may sound bad, but it's actually a good thing for dieters. This means you can eat the same amount of fat, and less of it will be used by your body, so you won't gain as much weight.

Meanwhile, the obesity vaccine under development in Switzerland is actually entering the human clinical trials stage. This vaccine, developed by Cytos Biotechnology, also targets ghrelin production, but it does so in a different way. Participants in this clinical trial will also be counseled to eat less and exercise more.

Unfortunately, there's quite a bit about all these chemicals that researchers still don't understand. The naturally occurring stomach chemical, ghrelin, is itself not fully understood, although scientists have confirmed that it is linked with how the body metabolizes fat by "decreasing the breakdown of stored fat for energy as well as curbing energy expenditure itself," as the Scripps Institute puts it. Scientists there think that their vaccine may provide a medical solution to the up-and-down weight gain patterns experienced by so many dieters. And they have an explanation for why this happens. Medically speaking, losing weight (especially in the wrong ways) can trick your body into thinking it's starving, which leads to greater fat storage rather than weight loss. This phenomenon is partially due to increased levels of - you guessed it, ghrelin. And the vaccines do seem to lower those levels. Professor of Chemistry Kim Janda calls the vaccine "a serious workable solution to the problem."

This vaccine, if successful, will also be unique among vaccines because it does not target a virus or infection. Instead, it targets a naturally-occurring chemical component of human metabolism. While other vaccines are being developed to combat the "fat virus" that may plague people who become obese, this vaccine may possibly help us all with the issue of a few pounds here and there. In fact, a ghrelin-inhibiting vaccine might be better for those of us with a few pounds to lose than for those who are obese, as ghrelin levels are actually decline in people who are morbidly obese. For everyone, however, ghrelin levels rise when we diet - and it's this mechanism that the vaccines will address.

Early Findings in Fat Vaccine Trials

The Swiss clinical trial has already released initial findings - and so far, so good! Some scientists have criticized the buzz surrounding this vaccine because it has only been tested in mice, which have very different metabolisms than humans. However, the Cytos Biotechnology study is comprised of111 human subjects, all of whom are obese (that is, with body mass indexes of 30 to 35). Initial results from the Cytos study show that the vaccine is safe and well-tolerated, and that it seems to be very successful at inhibiting ghrelin. Actual weight loss results, however, did not meet expectations. The vaccine is still in testing, however, and perhaps the Scripps team will have better luck. Their researchers do claim that their delivery mechanism is more effective.

The Bottom Line

So why do we have to deal with this stomach chemical that keeps us from losing weight when we cut calories? What's ghrelin good for, anyway? One theory suggests that ghrelin was an evolutionary response to feast-or-famine conditions. Those who could gain more weight and store more fat when food was available were more likely to live through periods of food scarcity. Unfortunately, this trait has out-lasted it usefulness, at least for many of us in the twenty-first century United States! The sad truth is that many of us are storing up an awful lot of fat for a hard winter that will probably never come. Let's hope that as science marches forward, we may learn how to solve these problems of evolutionary throwbacks.

In the meantime, we do need to find solutions for what many are calling an obesity pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that obesity rates have doubled in the last thirty years. What's more, complications include hypertension, dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides), Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon). The emotional and psychological problems are severe, as well. While many of us may have chuckled at the Austin Power's character bemoaning, "I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat," the relationship between obesity and emotional problems can be quite complex. This can be especially difficult for those who first become overweight in the childhood or teen years. The longer a person has been overweight, the more difficult it is for him/her to believe in the power to change.

For people who have always struggled with weight, a successful obesity vaccine would be life-changing. It could give hope to those individuals with metabolisms and genetic profiles that make it all but impossible to maintain a healthy body weight. And for the rest of us, help with the last stubborn five pounds would be really nice, too.

Kathleen Bowers and Allison Pedrazzi