Drug Found to Combat Obesity, Diabetes in Mice

A drug used to treat canker sores and asthma helped lower the weight of obese mice without diet or exercise. The drug, known as amlexanox, or Aphthasol, was also able to reverse their diabetes and fatty liver. Researchers at the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute analyzed the mice in the lab of Alan Saltiel, the Mary Sue Coleman director of the Life Sciences Institute. The findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine. Saltiel explained: "One of the reasons that diets are so ineffective in producing weight loss for some people is that their bodies adjust to the reduced calories by also reducing their metabolism, so that they are 'defending' their body weight. Amlexanox seems to tweak the metabolic response to excessive calorie storage in mice." Using different formulations, amlexanox is used for canker sores in the United States and to treat asthma in Japan. The medication has been sold in Japan for over 25 years. Saltiel is working with clinical-trial experts at the University of Michigan to examine whether the drug will be an effective treatment for obesity and diabetes in people. He and medicinal chemists at the University are also trying to create a novel compound based on the drug that makes the best use of its formula.