London, June 3: Unable to maintain weight loss due to your genetic predisposition to obesity? Take heart, an injectable drug widely used to lower blood sugar levels can help you fight overweight, suggest a study.

Around two to six per cent of all people with obesity develop obesity already in early childhood because they are genetically programmed to do so. 

Obesity-causal mutations in one of their "appetite genes" gives them a strong genetic predisposition for developing obesity, also called monogenic obesity. Their experience of hunger is over-ruling and their feeling of satiety limited. 

Researchers discovered that this group of people with obesity can lose weight with the help of the medicine liraglutide -- a modified form of the appetite-inhibiting hormone GLP-1 naturally secreted from the intestine when we eat. 

"The appetite-inhibiting drug liraglutide has a positive effect on them. They feel less hungry and lose six per cent of their body weight within four months," said lead author Signe Sorensen Torekov, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 

In the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the team have examined a small group with obesity caused by pathogenic mutations in the so-called MC4R gene and those with obesity without the mutations. 

Both groups were treated with the medicine for four months; no changes were made to their diet and level of exercise in this period. 

The individuals with this most common form of monogenic obesity lost 7 kg of their body weight compared to 6 kg for the people with common obesity. 

Medicine acting as an analogue to our natural GLP-1 hormone is already available, as it has been approved by both the US Food Drug Association and European Medicines Agency for the treatment of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. 

The study thus makes it possible to treat the most common form of genetically caused obesity, where patients respond poorly to existing treatments, the researchers noted. 

As MC4R mutations cause obesity already in early childhood, the researchers hope the results can pave the way for new studies on young people in the future. 

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Bengaluru(PTI): An Air India Express flight from Bengaluru to Kochi made an emergency landing at Bengaluru after a fire was noticed in one of the engines, the Bangalore International Airport Limited said on Sunday.

All the passengers and crew were evacuated and no one was injured, Air India Express said in a statement. According to sources, the fire was noticed minutes after the take off.

The crew members alerted the Air Traffic Controller and a full scale emergency was declared.

Soon after emergency landing at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru, the fire was extinguished.

"On May 18, 2024, IX 1132 from Bengaluru to Kochi made an emergency landing at BLR Airport at 2312 hrs, due to a reported fire in one of the engines," a spokesperson of the BIAL, which manages KIA, said in a statement.

A full-scale emergency was declared, and the fire was promptly extinguished upon landing. All 179 passengers and six crew members have been successfully evacuated from the aircraft, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) spokesperson said.

An Air India Express spokesperson said that due to suspected flames from the right engine after takeoff, the Bengaluru- Kochi flight 'elected' to return and carried out a precautionary landing at Bengaluru . The ground services also reported flames, resulting in an evacuation.

"The crew accomplished an evacuation with no injuries to any guests. We regret the inconvenience this has caused and are working to provide alternative arrangements for our guests to reach their destination as soon as possible," it said.

"A thorough investigation with the regulator shall be accomplished to establish the cause,” it said.