LOOBesity: Closing the loop towards precision medicine in obesity

Problem: Elevated stress hormone metabolism (glucocorticoid) exacerbates health risks in obesity

Goal: Optimization of treatment for obese patients with altered metabolism

Obesity is a widespread disease that increases the risk of secondary conditions such as cardiovascular (e.g. high blood pressure) and metabolic (e.g. diabetes) complications. Diets and exercise often fail to achieve lasting success. Moreover, the choice of therapy depends on the personal experience of the treating physicians, and there is a lack of concrete indicators for which therapy is most suitable for which individual. This is precisely where the LOOBesity research project, led by Felix Beuschlein, comes in: the goal is to develop individualized and therefore more effective therapies against obesity for a selected group of affected individuals.

Particularly affected are people with elevated glucocorticoid metabolism, which is typically associated with stress. This group exhibits a higher risk for secondary diseases. For this patient group, molecular and radiological criteria are used to derive insights into the composition and distribution of body fat. Using artificial intelligence (AI), the individual risk for secondary diseases is assessed, and based on this, a personalized therapy recommendation is developed. Individuals at increased risk should then receive optimized treatment that leads to long-term weight reduction.

LOOBesity combines various data sources such as cohort studies, molecular signature analyses, imaging techniques, and computer-assisted decision support systems to develop targeted personalized treatment strategies for obese patients. In 2024, the project made significant progress and largely achieved its set goals.

Groups involved:

• Felix Beuschlein: Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Clinical Nutrition,University Hospital Zurich
• Thomas Frauenfelder: Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich
• Ender Konukoglu: Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich
• Milo Puhan: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich
• Christian Wolfrum: Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich