HyperImaGene - Metabolic mechanisms that cause fat loss due to semaglutide versus muscle hypertrophy

Stimulating global skeletal muscle hypertrophy commonly causes fat loss. In contrast, recently approved weight loss drugs such as semaglutide (marketed as Wegovy®) cause not only fat loss but also muscle atrophy. The main aim of this project is to compare the metabolic mechanisms that explain the fat loss that results from global muscle hypertrophy with those responsible for the fat loss induced by semaglutide. We will study these two modes of fat loss and combinatorial treatments using advanced methods of metabolic research. A unique focus of our project will be on metabolic imaging as this allows repeated non-invasive spatial quantification of metabolic mechanisms. Specifically, we will use longitudinal metabolic and fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including hyperpolarised metabolites, and [18F]FDG-PET.