Amylin/calcitonin receptor (dual)

Class

Dual amylin/calcitonin receptor agonist (DACRA)

The amylin receptor and the calcitonin receptor are related G-protein-coupled receptors that normally respond to two different pancreatic and thyroid-derived hormones involved in appetite, glucose handling, and bone metabolism. Amylin, released alongside insulin after meals, acts on brain regions that control fullness, slows stomach emptying, and dampens the release of glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar. Calcitonin, acting through its own receptor, has overlapping effects on satiety signaling in the brainstem in addition to its classical role restraining bone-resorbing cells. A dual amylin/calcitonin receptor agonist (DACRA) is a synthetic peptide engineered to activate both receptor systems simultaneously, rather than mimicking either hormone alone. The rationale is that combined engagement produces a more pronounced and durable reduction in food intake and body weight, alongside favorable effects on blood glucose regulation, than agonism of either receptor individually. This class is being explored for obesity and for metabolic disease more broadly, including conditions where excess body weight and impaired insulin action co-occur. Because the underlying biology intersects appetite regulation, gastrointestinal motility, and glucose metabolism, DACRAs represent a strategy for addressing multiple facets of metabolic disease through a single, centrally and peripherally acting mechanism.