New research suggests python blood could hold the key to a new weight-loss drug, as the snake metabolite suppresses appetites in mice.
It is the appetite-suppressing compound in python blood that allows the snakes to basically survive on what humans would call an extreme “crash diet.” For example, pythons can eat huge meals, eating an entire animal in one sitting, yet go months, or even years, without eating anything at all.
It is this unique ability that piqued the interest of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. So, in collaboration with scientists at Stanford and Baylor, they studied metabolic byproducts in the blood, or metabolites. Their goal in doing so is to learn how mammals such as pythons take in and expend energy.
“This is a perfect example of nature-inspired biology,” said senior author Leslie Leinwand, a distinguished professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology who has been studying pythons in her lab for two decades. “You look at extraordinary animals that can do things that you and I and other mammals can’t do, and you try to harness that for therapeutic interventions.”
Pythons can go months without feeding while still having a strong heart and lots of muscle. According to Leinwand’s research, their metabolism increases by 4,000 times, and their heart swells by 25% in the hours following a meal to aid digestion. The study aimed to determine how these unique traits might benefit humans.
Metabolites in pythons show serious promise for use in weight loss for humans
For their study, the scientists collected blood samples from ball pythons and Burmese pythons immediately after feeding for 28 days. They found that 208 metabolites were dramatically elevated following the pythons’ meals. One molecule in particular, though, para-tyramine-O-sulfate (pTOS), showed a 1,000-fold increase.
When they gave high doses of pTOS to obese or lean mice, it affected the appetite center of the brain, prompting weight loss without causing gastrointestinal problems, muscle loss or declines in energy.
“We’ve basically discovered an appetite suppressant that works in mice without some of the side-effects that GLP-1 drugs have,” said Leinwand, referring to weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
The researchers believe they can also use this metabolite to treat age-related muscle loss, or sarcopenia. They also plan to study other metabolites that increase after pythons eat. These other metabolites, they believe, may also provide health benefits in humans.