Existing treatments for obesity include hormone injections, the drug sibutramine, which induces a feeling of fullness, and orlistat, a drug, obstructs fat in the gut.
However, the NewScientist reports that these drugs cannot be taken for long periods and they are limited in terms of their effectiveness.
Masatomo Mori and his team at Gunma University in Maebashi, Japan, have found a protein that occurs naturally in the rat brain called nesfetin-1.
The scientists say that upon injecting nesfetin-1 directly into the rat brain, the animals chose to eat less and when the protein was administered by a drip over 10 days, they lost weight in the short period of time.
The researchers were quoted by Asia News International as saying, "Nesfetin-1 might be a useful target for the development of drugs to treat obese people."
Mori said he is planning on working on human trials, eventually ending up with a drug that can be injected and taken up the human system.
