A naturally occurring protein may offer a new path to treating obesity and conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, such as type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. That would be great new for 650 million people worldwide who are battling obesity.

Scientists say that forced production of the protein — FGFBP3 (BP3 for short) —  boosted metabolism that led to large amounts of fat loss in obese laboratory mice genetically altered to eat all the time.

It's a finding only observed so far in mice, but researchers say it triggered significant weight loss in obese rodents.

"We found that eight BP3 treatments over 18 days was enough to reduce the fat in obese mice by over a third," said study senior investigator Dr. Anton Wellstein, a professor of oncology and pharmacology at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C.

The treatments with the protein also eliminated the fat in the once fatty livers of the mice and reduced the number of obesity-related disorders, such as hyperglycemia — excess blood sugar associated diabetes.

There were no harmful side effects, according to the study that was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports.

The researchers noted that because BP3 is a natural protein and not an artificial drug, human clinical trials of the protein could begin after a final round of preclinical studies.

Study findings involving animals frequently fail to produce similar results in humans, however.