Lipscomb professor’s discovery could help fight off cancer and obesity

Cancer and causes of obesity have become increasingly important concerns for millions around the world and there are many causes of both. However, what are some ways to potentially help combat these things?

Dr. Josh Owens, assistant professor of biology and undergraduate research coordinator at Lipscomb and did research discovering a novel molecule called valerobetaine (VB) and how that molecule inhibits, prevents and blocks your body’s natural ability to burn fat.

Owens, who also graduated from Lipscomb in 2016, says that this VB can be different for each person and that despite the known causes of obesity such as diet, exercise, or genetics, his research shows that VB can also be a major factor as well.

“One person, maybe they have a high fat diet, they love a good greasy hamburger, some fried chicken, those types of things,” Owens said. “If they have a lot of VB, instead of using those fats for energy, VB blocks that process from happening and instead the body will just store it as fat that might be in their adipose tissue over the belly or subcutaneous fat, all over the body.”

Owens also explained what happens on the other side of the spectrum.

“What happens in a different individual is that a slightly different microbiome is producing less VB,” he said. “So for those individuals, when that fat comes into their cells, they’ll burn it all up, it’ll form energy, and it doesn’t get stored as fat.”

So with valerobetaine (VB) showing an impact on obesity, what does this mean for people and their diets?

“Yes, there’s a lifestyle factor, what diet you’re consuming, or your exercise level, but there’s also a microbiome component,” Owens explained. “If the microbiome has high levels of VB, you can’t burn fat, and it’s gonna be harder for you. So, from the obesity standpoint, VB can be very bad.”

However, Owens said that it’s not all bad: “How we’re using this bad molecule in a good way is in the settings of cancer.”

So if valerobetaine can have a negative, how in the world does it help the fight against cancer?

According to Owens, his proposition focuses on slowing down the cancer enough that it’ll die from the chemotherapy and radiation working in tandem with VB. Then the hope would be that this provides patients with a better prognosis, better chemo response rates, and fewer relapses.

“With chemo and radiation, we’re just trying to kill the cells as fast as possible,” Owens explained. “If you can lower down their energy levels, lower down how aggressive they are, now we’re basically softball pitching it for the chemo just to slug a home run.”

Cancer has been a long-standing battle in the medical world. According to the American Cancer Society Journals, in 2022 there were an estimated 1.9 million estimated new cancer cases in the United States and more than 600,000 estimated deaths.

Could the discovery of valerobetaine be a natural ammunition in the battle against cancer? According to Owens’ findings, it’s very well possible, and it may have just happened right here at Lipscomb.