Posted on 07/29/2021 11:19:15 AM PDT by Red Badger
Treating obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP led to significant abdominal fat and weight loss compared to controls, according to new research published Thursday in Science from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Unexpectedly, the fat loss was not associated with decreased food intake or faster metabolism. Instead, the researchers discovered that TSLP stimulated the immune system to release lipids through the skin's oil-producing sebaceous glands.
"This was a completely unforeseen finding, but we've demonstrated that fat loss can be achieved by secreting calories from the skin in the form of energy-rich sebum," said principal investigator Taku Kambayashi, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn, who led the study with fourth-year medical student Ruth Choa, Ph.D. "We believe that we are the first group to show a non-hormonal way to induce this process, highlighting an unexpected role for the body's immune system."
The animal model findings, Kambayashi said, support the possibility that increasing sebum production via the immune system could be a strategy for treating obesity in people.
The Hypothesis
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a cytokine—a type of immune system protein— involved in asthma and other allergic diseases. The Kambayashi research group has been investigating the expanded role of this cytokine to activate Type 2 immune cells and expand T regulatory cells. Since past studies have indicated that these cells can regulate energy metabolism, the researchers predicted that treating overweight mice with TSLP could stimulate an immune response, which could subsequently counteract some of the harmful effects of obesity.
"Initially, we did not think TSLP would have any effect on obesity itself. What we wanted to find out was whether it could impact insulin resistance," Kambayashi said. "We thought that the cytokine could correct Type 2 diabetes, without actually causing the mice to lose any weight."
The Experiment
To test the effect of TSLP on Type 2 diabetes, the researchers injected obese mice with a viral vector that would increase their bodies' TSLP levels. After four weeks, the research team found that TSLP had not only affected their diabetes risk, but it had actually reversed the obesity in the mice, which were fed a high-fat diet. While the control group continued to gain weight, the weight of the TSLP-treated mice went from 45 grams down to a healthy 25 grams, on average, in just 28 days.
Most strikingly, the TSLP-treated mice also decreased their visceral fat mass. Visceral fat is the white fat that is stored in the abdomen around major organs, which can increase diabetes, heart disease, and stroke risk. These mice also experienced improved blood glucose and fasting insulin levels, as well as decreased risk of fatty liver disease.
Given the dramatic results, Kambayashi assumed that the TSLP was sickening the mice and reducing their appetites. However, after further testing, his group found that the TSLP-treated mice were actually eating 20 to 30 percent more, had similar energy expenditures, base metabolic rates, and activity levels, when compared to their non-treated counterparts.
The Findings
To explain the weight loss, Kambayashi recalled a small observation he had previously ignored: "When I looked at the coats of the TSLP-treated mice, I noticed that they glistened in the light. I always knew exactly which mice had been treated, because they were so much shinier than the others," he said.
Kambayashi considered a far-fetched idea—was their greasy hair a sign that the mice were "sweating" out fat from their skin?
To test the theory, the researchers shaved the TSLP-treated mice and the controls and then extracted oils from their fur. They found that Kambayashi's hypothesis was correct: The shiny fur contained sebum-specific lipids. Sebum is a calorically-dense substance produced by sebocytes (highly specialized epithelial cells) in the sebaceous glands and helps to form the skin barrier. This confirmed that the release of oil through the skin was responsible for the TSLP-induced fat loss.
The Conclusions
To examine whether TSLP could potentially play a role in the control of oil secretion in humans, the researchers then examined TSLP and a panel of 18 sebaceous gland-associated genes in a publicly-available dataset. This revealed that TSLP expression is significantly and positively correlated with sebaceous gland gene expression in healthy human skin.
The study authors write that, in humans, shifting sebum release into "high gear" could feasibly lead to the "sweating of fat" and weight loss. Kambayashi's group plans further study to test this hypothesis.
"I don't think we naturally control our weight by regulating sebum production, but we may be able to highjack the process and increase sebum production to cause fat loss. This could lead to novel therapeutic interventions that reverse obesity and lipid disorders," Kambayashi said.
Explore further
Food allergy development linked to skin exposure More information: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin induces adipose loss through sebum hypersecretion, Science (2021).
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd2893
Journal information: Science
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I just sweated a pound of sweat mowing the lawn in Florida with 90 deg F temp and very high humidity. But then I drank a few cold beers afterwards so no weight loss I am sure.
That is dangerous.....................
I know it, but I like to push the envelope at age 81.
That daily gym workout helps a lot.
Heatstroke can sneak up on you....................
“We thought that the cytokine could correct Type 2 diabetes, without actually causing the mice to lose any weight.”
As a person with diabetes for many years, I am pleased they are experimenting with ways to control it better. But reducing the built up fat on the body trunk area, is not going to control it. That fat is not the cause of the illness, it is the result of insulin resistance that is another piece of the puzzle of the illness along with blood sugars going out of control in many inconsistent ways.
History has been unable to determine that the illness is related to genes from relatives and have even been able to set up a trail even though the cause is not decided on how.
We also further our increase in D2 with the process of ionizing foods. Exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk of chronic metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes later in life.
https://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/65/12/3573
So, it’s not as simple as eliminating a result of the illness, It is far more than that .
wy69
Sweating grease!
You’ve never heard of ‘Little Shavers’?......................
Thinner....
Are there mouse ‘Lawnmowers’?
Asking for someone else...
I already have an oily scalp.
Oh yes, I am always aware of heat strokes having played lots of golf after age 60. I take plenty of breaks during mowing to hydrate and cool off. In 15 years of playing golf in WA state, I actually passed out from heat exhaustion AFTER finishing round of 18 on hilly Jackson Park golf course in Seattle. But regained consciousness as soon as I was on the floor in the golf course restaurant. Of course the the golf course people called an ambulance and shipped me to the nearby hospital. When I get to the hospital there was no opening in any rooms so they left me on a stretcher in the hallway. I kept asking for water and the nurse kept telling me no water before the doctor sees you. To make long story short, my wife drove up to the hospital and gave me water to drink. I threatened the hospital with a law suit for depriving me drinking water when I was obviously dehydrated. The hospital wrote off my bill and promised me they will improve their procedure to handle dehydrated patients.
They know that it is not a treatment for diabetes, but, like the discovery of Viagra, it was an accidential discovery that could have huge potential.
We are talking trillions if this works in humans
Good movie.......................
“They know that it is not a treatment for diabetes,”
I believe you’re right in that they are not able to do much with it as it stands. But the statement: “We thought that the cytokine could correct Type 2 diabetes...” is a tipoff that they were trying to mix apples and oranges and probably are trying to cover how much money was spent on a research that probably cost millions and was never determined it could work at all. The two determinations don’t match: the one to cure the illness and the other to spotlight weight loss which will not cure the illness either. Their restaurant didn’t close.
wy69
just what we need skinny, sweaty mice.
skinny, sweaty, oily, bald mice.......................
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