McGlacken & Schellekens paper gives food for thought in Irish Times article

14 Nov 2016

Dr Gerard McGlacken, lecturer in Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Dr Harriët Schellekens lecturer in Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience have generated media interest following the publication of a recent research article in the journal 'Scientific Reports'.

McGlacken and Schellekens and their team have identified the properties of a compound '2-pyridone'  which they have shown has the ability to increase appetite via activation of the ghrelin receptor.  Loss of appetite in the medically ill and ageing populations is a major health problem. The potential of this discovery is huge as they believe it may also point the way to a drug that can trigger weight loss, something which would be hugely important given the rising rates of obesity.

In a recent article in The Irish Times,  Dr McGlacken and Dr Schellekens report on their success, discussing their findings and they express their excitement of their discovery as “There is no drug on the market which can achieve this currently and very few in the pipeline”.

Link to Irish Times article:  http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/drug-developed-in-cork-that-could-reverse-extreme-weight-loss-1.2861401

Link to published journal article:  'A Novel Non-Peptidic Agonist of the Ghrelin Receptor with Orexigenic Activity In vivo'  is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

(Photo B.Riedewald)