Python metabolite suppresses appetite

Researchers found a metabolite (pTOS) that spikes in Burmese pythons after large meals and, when given to mice, reduces appetite and produced ~9% weight loss over 28 days without reducing activity. The molecule acts via the hypothalamus and appears to work by turning on feeding‑regulation neurons rather than slowing gastric emptying like GLP‑1 drugs; small post‑meal pTOS spikes were also observed in most human volunteers studied. — If translatable to humans, pTOS could create a new class of weight‑loss therapeutics with distinct safety, regulatory, economic, and social consequences similar to — but biologically different from — GLP‑1 drugs.