The Eurecat technology centre has developed a multi-ingredient amino acid to ameliorate the impact of overweight, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the health of menopausal women where the build-up of belly fat can lead to metabolic disorders and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease which accounts for 47 percent of deaths in women worldwide.
To analyse the effectiveness of this multi-ingredient nutraceutical, Eurecat is conducting the Fathis+ intervention study to evaluate the effects of supplementation in postmenopausal women in reducing visceral abdominal fat and improving metabolic health.
Eurecat has developed this ingredient, which is a combination of amino acids from histidine metabolism, to enhance the treatment of diseases such as obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. “At the preclinical level we have found particularly significant results in terms of the build-up of body fat and the related metabolic alterations which may take place in post-menopausal women due to the cessation of oestrogen production, suggesting that this multi-ingredient might well improve the health and quality of life of women at this period of life,” says Dr Antoni Caimari, director of the Biotechnology Area at Eurecat.
These results “add scientific evidence to those previously reported in another study Eurecat was involved in and which was published in the renowned journal Cell Reports Medicine, where an improvement in fatty liver disease was observed in several preclinical models and which, taken together, suggest that supplementation with this nutraceutical ingredient may be an alternative therapy for tackling obesity and fatty liver disease in menopausal women.”
Over the twelve weeks of the nutritional intervention study, the women who take part as volunteers receive medical and nutritional follow-up by professionals plus recommendations for heart-healthy dietary patterns. Their biochemical parameters and body composition are also analysed coupled with monitoring obesity and body fat parameters.
Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Unit has set up the 636 944 723 helpline and the estudis@eurecat.org email address for women keen to volunteer to take part in the study which is being run as part of Eurecat’s Fathis+ research project.
Scientific publication in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy of preclinical results with the multi-ingredient
The intervention is based on the findings of a preclinical study which showed that oral supplementation with the multi-ingredient, which contains amino acids and related compounds (histidine, carnosine, cysteine and serine), improved obesity, body composition and risk factors for type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis in a post-menopausal model.
This study, which is part of Eurecat’s women’s health research strand and has been published in the scientific journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, is the outcome of the collaborative work of a multidisciplinary team made up of various research and technology institutions.
The study showed how a treatment based on this ingredient had “beneficial effects on fat build-up, immunometabolic function, body composition and cardiometabolic risk, similar to a pharmacological treatment based on injections of the hormone oestradiol, which simulates a hormone replacement therapy followed by some post-menopausal women,” notes Dr Julio Baudin, a Eurecat Nutrition and Health Unit researcher and first author of the paper.
