Scientists at Stanford Medicine have identified a naturally occurring molecule that may mimic some of the weight loss effects of semaglutide without causing several of its common side effects. In animal studies, the molecule, called BRP, reduced appetite and body weight while avoiding nausea, constipation and muscle loss.
The study, published in Nature, points to a different but related biological pathway than semaglutide, the drug widely known as Ozempic. Stanford senior research scientist Laetitia Coassolo led the work, which used artificial intelligence to search through a vast set of prohormones and narrow a list of candidates to a single peptide that stood out in tests.
The team built a computer tool called Peptide Predictor to scan all 20,000 human protein-coding genes, then cut the list to 373 prohormones and 2,683 possible peptides. Researchers tested 100 peptides, including GLP-1, in lab-grown brain cells. One 12-amino-acid peptide produced a response ten times greater than control cells, and the team named it BRP, short for BRINP2-related-peptide.
Katrin Svensson, who co-founded a company planning human clinical trials in the near future, said the semaglutide receptors are found in the brain, gut, pancreas and other tissues. She said that is why Ozempic has widespread effects, including slowing the movement of food through the digestive tract and lowering blood sugar levels. BRP, by contrast, appears to act specifically in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls appetite and metabolism.
The distinction matters because semaglutide works by mimicking GLP-1, a well-known product of the prohormone process linked to obesity, while BRP works through a different pathway and activates distinct groups of neurons in the brain. In lean mice and minipigs, the molecule reduced appetite and body weight without the three common side effects that often complicate treatment. Svensson said the algorithm was "absolutely key" to the findings.
For now, BRP is still a laboratory discovery, not a treatment. The human clinical trials have not yet begun, but the study gives researchers a cleaner target to pursue: a natural molecule that appears to copy part of semaglutide's weight-loss effect while avoiding much of the burden that has come with the drug's broader reach.
