Obesity Vaccine Closer to Becoming Reality

A newly developed vaccine designed to boost metabolism may provide an innovative treatment option for obesity, new research indicates, offering an alternative to weight loss surgery.

In a study published earlier this month in the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, researchers administered two different vaccines, JH17 and JH18, to a group of mice being fed a high fat diet. The formulations had the same bioengineered active ingredient but a different “adjuvant” added to stimulate the body’s response to the vaccine. Four days after the vaccines were administered, the mice that received either version of the innoculation had lost 10 percent of their body weight in comparison to the control group. After the administration of a booster vaccine at the three-week mark, the weight loss remained constant among the mice.

The vaccines caused the weight loss by decreasing the amount of somatostatin hormones, without affecting normal levels of the growth hormone IGF-1 or insulin levels. Somatostatin limits the amount of growth factor released from the pituary gland. The vaccines are themselves modified strains of somatostatin, which cause the immune system to release antibodies to reduce the amount of somatostatin in the body, letting growth factor levels increase. Previously published studies have shown human growth factor (HGH) can reduce body fat and increase muscle mass, as well as increase metabolism. However, negative side effects, including insulin resistance, joint and muscle pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome, among adults who took synthetic HGH have raised serious safety concerns.



The obesity rate in the United States has skyrocketed in the past three decades, driving up healthcare costs due to related medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, gall bladder disease, several types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. If proven effective in humans, the new vaccine could aid in the fight against obesity and reduce the number of patients who undergo bariatric surgery.

“This study demonstrates the possibility of treating obesity with vaccination,” said Keith Haffer of Braasch Biotech LLC, the biopharmaceutical company that developed the experimental drug. “Although further studies are necessary to discover the long-term implications of these vaccines, treatment of human obesity with vaccination would provide physicians with a drug- and surgical-free option against the weight epidemic.”



