Researchers at Stanford Medicine have discovered a naturally occurring molecule that mimics the appetite-suppressing and weight-loss effects of Ozempic while potentially avoiding some of the drug’s most unpleasant side effects. The molecule, called BRP, was identified with the help of artificial intelligence and works through a different metabolic pathway than semaglutide, the active ingredient in the popular weight-loss medication. In animal studies published March 5 in the journal Nature, BRP reduced food intake by up to 50 percent and triggered significant fat loss without producing nausea, constipation, or the substantial muscle loss that often accompanies semaglutide treatment.
The key difference appears to lie in where BRP acts within the body. While Ozempic targets receptors found throughout the brain, gut, pancreas, and other tissues, BRP seems to work primarily in the hypothalamus, the small region deep in the brain that regulates hunger and metabolism. Katrin Svensson, a Stanford assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the study, said this precision could make BRP a more targeted tool for controlling body weight without rippling into so many other bodily systems.
The discovery depended on a custom algorithm the team developed called Peptide Predictor, which combed through all 20,000 human protein-coding genes looking for sites where a specific enzyme known as prohormone convertase 1/3 typically cuts proteins. That enzyme has previously been linked to obesity in humans and is responsible for producing GLP-1, the hormone that semaglutide imitates. By narrowing the search to secreted proteins with multiple cleavage sites, the researchers whittled thousands of candidates down to 373 prohormones and eventually focused on roughly 100 peptides most likely to affect the brain.
One tiny peptide made of just twelve amino acids stood out immediately, triggering ten times more neuronal activity than untreated control cells in laboratory tests. When injected into lean mice and minipigs before feeding, it cut food intake dramatically over the following hour. Obese mice given daily injections for two weeks lost an average of three grams each, nearly all from body fat, while untreated animals gained about three grams over the same period. The treated mice also showed improved glucose tolerance with no clear signs of anxiety or behavioral changes compared with controls.
Svensson has co-founded a company aimed at moving BRP into human clinical trials soon. If the molecule performs similarly in people, it could offer patients seeking weight loss treatments an alternative that avoids some of the trade-offs tied to current medications.