Technology/ Title:An Anti-Obesity Nanotechnology to Modulate Oil Absorption

Obesity is a disease of modern civilization. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement asserted that, from 1980 to today, the number of obese people in the world had more than doubled, and comprised 40% of the global population. Obesity can cause many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening ailments. Therefore, weight control has become one of the world’s most urgent health issues.

However, in the anti-obesity market, the use of weight-controlling drugs that reduce fat absorption, such as Xenical, produce some unpleasant side effects, such as steatorrhea. In an effort to minimize or eliminate these unpleasant side effects, drug dosages have been reduced. However, this has led to much lower effectiveness of the drugs. Orlistat is the main active ingredient of many existing weight-controlling drugs. It acts as a lipase inhibitor to reduce the degradation and in vivo absorption of gastrointestinal fats resulting in excess fat being excreted from the large intestine.

In our study, using a nanomaterial that can adsorb oil and creative gelatinization/solidification reduced side effects of these drugs. The high surface area (800-1000 m2/g) of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) makes it suitable as an option for such materials. Silicon dioxide is also biocompatible, and has been widely utilized in food additives and as an anti-acid agent in gastrointestinal medications. Based on the above characteristics, MSN is attractive as a material for combination therapy with Orlistat. Here, we have developed and used MSN to reduce the side effects of lipase inhibitor-based anti-obesity drugs, thereby enhancing the utility and market development of these drugs.

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