(c) flickr & Special
噛むだけで減量の助けになるチューインガムができるかもしれない。PYYと呼ばれるホルモンは，食べたり運動したりすると血流に放出され，食欲とエネルギーを調節する。PYYは肥満した人で濃度が低く，また，点滴で投与すると肥満であるかないかに関わらず，摂取カロリーが減ることが分かっていた。しかし，PYYは口から服用すると，胃で分解するなど血流になかなか到達しない。そこで，ビタミンB12にPYYを結合させて投与する方法を試みたところ，十分な量のPYYが血流に到達した。食後に服用すると次の食事までに効果を表す。食べる量を減らすガムや錠剤の開発ができそうだ。（吉田素子）
Chew Gum, Lose Weight
Most people understand that serious weight loss requires changing attitudes toward what they eat and how often they exercise. But, what if the process could be aided by simply chewing a stick of gum after meals? That’s the question a team of scientists, led by Syracuse University chemist Robert Doyle, is trying to answer. In a groundbreaking new study, Doyle’s team demonstrated, for the first time, that a critical hormone that helps people feel “full” after eating can be delivered into the bloodstream orally.
Doyle’s study was published online Nov. 4, 2011 in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and is forthcoming in print. The journal is the most cited in the field and one of the leading primary research journals internationally. Doyle is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. He collaborated on the study with researchers from Murdoch University in Australia.
The hormone, called human PYY, is part of a chemical system that regulates appetite and energy. When people eat or exercise, PYY is released into the bloodstream. The amount of PYY that is released increases with the number of calories that are consumed. Past studies have shown that people who are obese have lower concentrations of PYY in their bloodstream both when fasting and after eating than their non-obese counterparts. Additionally, intravenous infusion of PYY into a volunteer group of obese and non-obese individuals increased the serum levels of the hormone and lowered the number of calories both groups consumed.
［単語和訳］
Gum：チューインガム
groundbreaking：革新的な hormone：ホルモン bloodstream：血流 orally：経口的に
online：オンラインで Medicinal Chemistry：医薬品化学 forthcoming in print：出版間近である is cited：引用される internationally：国際的に associate professor：准教授 collaborated：協力した researchers：研究者
regulates：～を調節する calories：カロリー are consumed：消費される obese：肥満した fasting：空腹時 counterparts：同等の人々 Additionally：さらに intravenous infusion：点滴静注 serum levels：血清レベル
