Radiation technique shows good results in weight reduction trials

Innovative RF radiation techniques have resulted in positive weight reduction results, according to a recent University of Adelaide study.

Two separate trials were run on pigs and dunnerts, a mouse-like marsupials. The animals were subjected to gastro-intestinal endoscopy, and subsequent RF antralplasty to introduce lesions on the stomach walls of the subjects.

"Initial results show that this procedure does what it should do -- we are not sure exactly how it works but the results are very promising," commented Gary Wittert, head of the department of medicine at the University of Adelaide.

Wittert said the procedure used a catheter and balloon system devised by US-based Silhouette Medical to allow accurate introduction of the RF emitters directly into contact with the stomach walls. This, said Wittert, allowed very accurate positioning and rotation of the RF treatment, allowing selective lesions to be introduced onto the stomach walls.

Radiated animals were then checked for loss of overall body weight and fat compared to control animals.

"We think the lesions affect the way the stomach empties. They stiffen the tissue, and this probably makes the stomach empty more slowly, in turn making the subject less hungry," he said.

The goal of the treatment was to reduce food consumption and change gastric emptying whilst maintaining normal nutrient absorption and metabolic function.

"There may also be changes to the nerves; it could be there is a disruption of the muscle layer and that also causes changes to the neural pathways -- but we don't really know at the moment," said Wittert.

The next stage of the research is to undertake human trials. Wittert said the protocols were currently being worked out with Monash Medical Centre (MMC), and would be staged under the jurisdiction of the head of the department of surgery at the Alfred Hospital, Prof Paul O'Brien.

"We are putting the together the aspects of phase two human trials, which we hope will be ready at the end of June this year," he said.

O'Brien said he hoped MMC would have completed trials on 20 or so human subjects by the end of the year. "We can't help but be interested by this research. It looks as though it is extraordinarily powerful. And don't forget most people aren't exactly excited by the prospect of normal surgery -- this endoscopic alternative is very interesting," he said.

O'Brien noted that RF medicine had shown a remarkable degree of success given the almost universal scepticism that it received when proposed. He said it had seen useful applications in a wide range of incontinence, reflux and other areas, and would be a valuable extra tool in the range of obesity treatments.

"We are very serious about this research. If this trial is successful, it will blow [obesity treatment] wide open. We can't help but be excited," he said.

And according to Wittert, the researchers are not the only ones upbeat about the results so far. The icing on the cake for the team is the VC company interest generated by the findings.

"The project is moving ahead. It would not be responsible to say when [a treatment] would or would not be available, but I will say the prospects there. I will say it has got to the point where some extremely large investors are showing interest and are being actively wooed," he agreed.