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28.12.2010

Aminophylline gel reduces belly fat

The aminophylline gels you can rub into your belly to make fat disappear may actually work. Researchers at Louisiana State University got 50 somewhat overweight men and women to rub a gel containing aminophylline into their waist area for 12 weeks.

Stubborn fat
Some areas of the body have fat deposits that are difficult to get rid of. In the nineties researchers discovered that this is because the fat cells in these areas are less sensitive to lipolytic hormones like adrenalin. These hormones force fat cells to release their contents into the bloodstream so that the body can burn them.

Caffeine analogues
The solution? Substances that make cells more sensitive to adrenalin, like caffeine, the researchers speculated. The molecules enter the body through the skin and in the fat cells underneath they block the adenosine receptor. If adenosine interacts with the receptor the body's metabolic rate declines and adrenalin sensitivity is reduced. If caffeine and caffeine analogues get in the way, then the rate of metabolism rises and sensitivity to adrenalin increases.

Aminophylline	Theophylline
Caffeine	Theobromine
Uric acid	Adenosine

Aminophylline
Theobromine and theophylline are stripped down versions of caffeine. Aminophylline consists of two theophylline molecules that are held together by ethylenediamine, a sort of molecular paperclip. In the body aminophylline falls apart into two theophylline molecules.

In choosing aminophylline the researchers did not make things easy for themselves.

"In developing aminophylline cream, it was appreciated that aminophylline is a skin sensitizer and chemically reactive due to the ethylenediamine it contains", they write. "A standard cream base turned yellow from a chemical reaction with aminophylline. This yellow cream was ineffective and caused rashes in some subjects. Using a specially formulated cream base to stabilize the aminophylline, the safety and efficacy was demonstrated."

Results
The gel worked and doubled the rate at which the waist measurement decreased through the diet. There was no effect on other parts of the body.

In an earlier study the researchers tested a gel that consisted not of 0.5 but 2 percent aminophylline. Women who rubbed this gel onto their thighs experienced a reduction in their subcutaneous fat, without dieting or extra exercise. [Obes Res. 1995 Nov; 3 Suppl 4:561S-568S.]

Source:
Diabetes Metab. 2007 May; 9(3): 300-3.