Monash researchers identify for the first time potential cause and treatment for obesity and insulin resistance

Monash University researchers have shown for the first time that mesenteric (gut) lymphatic dysfunction is a potential cause of and therapeutic target for obesity and insulin resistance.

The ground-breaking study, published today in the prestigious journal Nature Metabolism, identified a profoundly damaging cycle in which a high fat diet promotes dysfunction of the mesenteric lymphatics, that in turn leads to accumulation of abdominal fat.

Notably, the study also provides evidence that intervening in this cycle by inhibiting the pathways associated with lymphatic dysfunction may be a treatment for both obesity and associated metabolic disease.

Treatment of the mesenteric lymphatic system with a lymph-targeted COX-2 inhibitor was shown to normalise the structure of the lymphatic vasculature, block weight gain and reverse glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia - conditions associated with type 2 diabetes.

Leading the study was a team of researchers from Melbourne’s Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) including Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis, Professor Chris Porter and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Enyuan Cao, in collaboration with PureTech Health (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC), a US clinical-stage biotherapeutics company specialising in the discovery, development and commercialisation of highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases.

Read the full story here.

Contact: Kate Carthew, Media Manager

Phone: 0438 674 814

Email: kate.carthew@monash.edu