Interesting new study, which adds more to the already existing mountain of evidence for the benefit of progesterone in a variety of conditions of metabolic origin. While the study does not mention any specific doses, it is known that the receptor (PGRMC2) whose activation the study found to be beneficial for diabetes/obesity, is activated by progesterone in physiological concentrations. This means that even "low" doses of progesterone in the 15mg-30mg daily range should be enough to activate that specific cell-membrane progesterone receptor and replicate the findings of the study. I am not even sure why the study did not use progesterone as the obvious choice of endogenous activator but instead went with an obscure (but patented and expensive) synthetic molecule. Wait, I think I know the reason...
PGRMC2 is an intracellular haem chaperone critical for adipocyte function
This protein that appears to play an important role in obesity, metabolic disease
"...Scientists at Scripps Research have come up with an unexpected finding of a protein that is highly expressed in fat tissue. The study has opened the door to critical new understandings about obesity, metabolism and potentially other diseases. The results of the study were published in the Journal Nature. The signaling protein, known as progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2), had not been extensively studied in the past. Short for “progesterone receptor membrane component 2,” it had been detected in the uterus, liver and several areas of the body."
"...And that is how they made their next big discovery: Without PGRMC2 present in their fat tissues, mice that were fed a high-fat diet became intolerant to glucose and insensitive to insulin, hallmark symptoms of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. By contrast, obese-diabetic mice that were treated with a drug to activate the PGRMC2 function showed a substantial improvement of symptoms associated with diabetes."
"...“Even though their brain was sending the right signals to turn on the heat, the mice were unable to defend their body temperature,” Galmozzi says. “Without heme, you get mitochondrial dysfunction and the cell has no means to burn energy to generate heat.”
PGRMC2 is an intracellular haem chaperone critical for adipocyte function
This protein that appears to play an important role in obesity, metabolic disease
"...Scientists at Scripps Research have come up with an unexpected finding of a protein that is highly expressed in fat tissue. The study has opened the door to critical new understandings about obesity, metabolism and potentially other diseases. The results of the study were published in the Journal Nature. The signaling protein, known as progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2), had not been extensively studied in the past. Short for “progesterone receptor membrane component 2,” it had been detected in the uterus, liver and several areas of the body."
"...And that is how they made their next big discovery: Without PGRMC2 present in their fat tissues, mice that were fed a high-fat diet became intolerant to glucose and insensitive to insulin, hallmark symptoms of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. By contrast, obese-diabetic mice that were treated with a drug to activate the PGRMC2 function showed a substantial improvement of symptoms associated with diabetes."
"...“Even though their brain was sending the right signals to turn on the heat, the mice were unable to defend their body temperature,” Galmozzi says. “Without heme, you get mitochondrial dysfunction and the cell has no means to burn energy to generate heat.”
