
Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem: obesity for many years is often the cause of fat and metabolic disorders – as well as diabetes. A study of obese mice show that the interplay between hormones and proteins might be to blame.
The main cause for the development of metabolic disorders such as diabetes meilitus is a reduced response of cells to the hormone insulin. In particular, the cells in the muscles, liver and adipose tissue respond to the poor blood sugar-regulating hormone. A group of researchers from Austria has now examined more closely in this context, the interaction of insulin and fat cells.
Obesity and subsequent diseases
Fat cells are not only energy depot but also regulate the body’s metabolism through the secretion of hormones. These include the hormones leptin and adiponectin, which for fat and glucose metabolism are important. Fat cells release a protein called PEDF also made that protects the nerve cells and stimulates their growth. In addition, PEDF prevented the formation of new vascular structures. The more fat cells there are, the more they produce PEDF. However, if too much PEDF is secreted to speak the body’s cells less responsive to insulin and absorb too little blood sugar. In consequence, the pancreas produces more insulin to compensate for the effect of PEDF. If this interplay, as the scientists suspect might type 2 diabetes occur.
Fat mice live unhealthy
This argument went to the Austrian research team by experiments in mice conducted. To this end, the formation of the PEDF protein was increased in obese mice and decreased in lean animals. If you lean mice injected PEDF, decreased insulin sensitivity of the animals. If the fat mice injected antibodies against the effect of PEDF was because their insulin sensitivity increased again. These study results suggest a direct correlation between the mass of existing fat cells and insulin resistance. Further studies must be clarified, however, whether it is possible to transfer the results from animal studies on the human organism.