Now, get that extra weight off your waist with 'adenosine'

Scientists have found a new way to get rid of the extra body weight.

An international team of researchers led by Professor Alexander Pfeifer from the University Hospital Bonn, discovered a new way to stimulate brown fat and thus burn energy from food: The body's own adenosine activates brown fat and "browns" white fat.

Professor Pfeifer said that not all the fat was equal, since humans have two different types of fat: undesirable white fat cells which form bothersome "love handles". If they could activate brown fat cells or to convert white fat cells into brown ones, it might be possible to simply melt excess fat away.

Dr. Thorsten Gnad added that if adenosine was bound to this receptor in brown fat cells, fat burning is significantly stimulated.

The scientists investigated the signaling pathway for fat activation using adenosine. The results showed that rats and hamsters react differently than humans in this regard.

In addition, the research team investigated the possibility that adenosine transforms white fat cells into brown fat cells - a process termed "browning". White fat cells normally cannot be induced to burn excess fat by adenosine, as they simply lack the A2A receptor.

For this reason, the team of scientists transferred the A2A receptor gene from brown fat cells to white fat cells in mice. Consequently, the white fat cells also have A2A receptors and start browning and burning energy.

As a result, it was possible for the researchers from the University of Bonn to comprehend the significance of adenosine for brown cells in mice and humans for the first time.

The results would be published in the journal Nature.