University of Essex researchers discovered they helped people drop twice as much weight when they ran for half an hour three times a week.
The team — led by Dr Henry Chung, from the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences — found those with more of the genes slimmed the most across eight weeks.
People with the most markers lost up to 5kg during the study and people without them dropped an average of 2kg.
The study found the PARGC1A gene that encodes PGC-1-a was key to weight loss and present in the participants who lost the most weight.
With the research showing that 62 per cent of the dropped kilograms were linked to the gene and 37 per cent linked to exercise and lifestyle factors.
Despite the results, Dr Chung said lifestyle factors and diet are still vital for slimming down.
Dr Chung said: “This study highlighted some important genes associated with taking inches off the jeans, but it’s important to remember that the genes will do nothing without exercise and lifestyle changes as they are all interlinked.
“Without intervention, they won’t show their true potential and then it doesn’t matter what genes you have!
“Away from weight loss exercise has so many benefits — ranging from mental health to cardiovascular fitness — so I’d advise everyone to keep on training even if they aren’t seeing the difference on the scales.“
The study followed 38 people all aged between 20 and 40 years old.
They were instructed to follow their normal diets and lifestyle habits, not do any other training, and were weighed before and after the study.
The paper, published in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, builds on Dr Chung’s previous study which showed running performance was also linked to genetics.
He hopes the research will allow governments, companies, and individuals to better tailor health interventions.
“If we can better understand someone’s specific genetic profile, hopefully, this will translate to better and more successful interventions for improving health outcomes” added Dr Chung.
“Yet, our molecular understanding of these differences remains very limited,” Zaaijer said.
The researchers acknowledge that transformations enhancing inclusivity — encompassing race, ethnicity, sex, and age — demand a comprehensive overhaul of all FDA guidelines on clinical endpoints to align with the FDA’s Diversity Action Plan.
“It’s a monumental task, requiring clear lines of communication between academics, industry researchers, clinicians, and regulators,” Zaaijer said. “The future of medicine relies on our capacity to connect these currently isolated operational teams.”
The researchers point out that a shift towards inclusive drug development is set to take place as instigated by a new law, the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, enacted in 2022.
“The FDA published their draft guidelines recently,” Zaaijer said. “Once final in a few months, they will mandate considering patient diversity in clinical trials and preclinical R&D. The next step is to provide guidance on what pharmacokinetic variables should be tested in drug R&D pipelines in their pursuit to equitable drugs.“
The researchers hope to activate the pharmaceutical industry and academia to start doing systematic experimental evaluations in preclinical research in relation to skin pigmentation and drug kinetics.
They also encourage patients, their advocacy groups, and clinical trial participants to ask questions related to ancestry-specific drug efficacy and safety, such as, “Has this drug been tested to see if it’s safe for people from different ancestral backgrounds, including mine?” Clinicians and pharmaceutical representatives should be able to provide an easy-to-understand document outlining the results of the various tests, the researchers said.
They acknowledge that in the current state of drug development this will be hard.
“In terms of risk profile testing, drugs are most often tested on one or a few human cell models that mostly come from donors of Northern European descent,” Zaaijer said. “Drugs are then tested in a rodent model. If these tests are successful, drug companies push the drug through to clinical trials. But are drugs ready to be given to a diverse patient group if they haven’t first been tested, for example, on human cell models of different ancestries? Would you bungee jump off a bridge if you know the ropes have not been tested for your weight category? Unlikely. So why is this currently acceptable with drugs?”
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/