Posted on 07/08/2024 12:38:23 PM PDT by Red Badger
Not all fat cells are bad.
Image credit: Nilang Kachare/Shutterstock.com
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Scientists have figured out a way to transform white fat cells into beige ones, effectively forcing them to burn calories rather than store them. Though the feat has so far only been achieved in mice, the researchers say their discovery could lead to the development of new weight-loss treatments for humans.
We all have three basic types of fat cell - white, brown and beige. White fat cells store lipids and cause us to gain weight when we have too many of them. Brown fat cells, on the other hand, are designed to burn calories in order to keep us warm, although most of these are used up by the time we are a year old.
The beige variety, meanwhile, persists throughout our lives and has the ability to perform both functions, storing energy when needed and burning it on demand. Interestingly, white fat cells can become beige as a result of exercise or cold exposure, and scientists have spent years looking for a way to control this process pharmacologically.
In previous work on mice, researchers discovered that the distinction between the various types of fat cell depends largely on a protein called KLF-15, which is present in much higher concentrations in brown and beige fat cells than in the white variety. The authors of a new study therefore decided to breed a line of mice that completely lacked this protein in their white fat cells, and found that this caused them to transform into beige fat cells.
“A lot of people thought this wasn’t feasible,” said study author Brian Feldman in a statement. “We showed not only that this approach works to turn these white fat cells into beige ones, but also that the bar to doing so isn’t as high as we’d thought.”
Indeed, all it takes is the suppression of a single protein to achieve the transformation - in rodents, at least. To get a better idea of whether or not this would work on people, the researchers examined the role that KLF-15 plays in cultured human fat cells.
Results indicated that the protein interacts with a type of receptor called Adrb1, which plays a key role in maintaining energy balance. This discovery could provide a vital piece of the puzzle, since scientists had previously focussed much of their attention on a related receptor called Adrb3, which has been shown to influence weight loss in mice.
Drugs that target Adrb3 in humans, however, have proven ineffective. The study authors therefore suspect that the development of new drugs that interact with Adrb1 might have a better chance of successfully alleviating obesity by converting white fat cells into beige ones.
“We’re certainly not at the finish line, but we’re close enough that you can clearly see how these discoveries could have a big impact on treating obesity,” says Feldman.
The study has been published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/172360
What could go wrong?
White fat in the brain also causes dementia.
It invades the white matter and effectively short circuits things.
Bimagrunab targets white fat and increase skeletal muscle by inhibition of myostatin. It’s already been used in a number of medical trials.
A 200lbs man would lose an average of 44 lbs of fat and gain 10 lbs of muscle.
Anything but eat healthy and stay active.
“White fat in the brain also causes dementia.”
Proteins, not fat cells.
“It invades the white matter and effectively short circuits things.”
Think again.
With their newly created food shortage plan you’ll die faster
And we wonder why people from the future travel back to the past, looking like aliens because they messed up their bodies so badly. “The sins of the fathers...,” altering DNA and passing it down through the generations like time bombs.
“Think again.”
OK, I think you’ve never heard of White Matter Disease, which is distinct issue from what you are talking about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion
“Spontaneous human combustion” refers to the death from a fire originating without an apparent external source of ignition; a belief that the fire starts within the body of the victim. This idea and the term “spontaneous human combustion” were both first proposed in 1746 by Paul Rolli, a Fellow of the Royal Society, in an article published in the Philosophical Transactions concerning the mysterious death of Countess Cornelia Zangheri Bandi.[2] Writing in The British Medical Journal in 1938, coroner Gavin Thurston describes the phenomenon as having “apparently attracted the attention not only of the medical profession but of the non-medical professionals one hundred years ago” (referring to a fictional account published in 1834 in the Frederick Marryat cycle).[3] In his 1995 book Ablaze!, Larry E. Arnold, a director of ParaScience International, wrote that there had been about 200 cited reports of spontaneous human combustion worldwide over a period of around 300 years.[4]
Now they just have to build a throttle for the self burning fat cells.
You are inhuman to suggest I have to eat less and move more. Such cruelty.
“OK, I think you’ve never heard of White Matter Disease, which is distinct issue from what you are talking about.”
OK, I think you don’t know what White Matter Disease is.
Well, you would be wrong.
White fat, also known as white adipose tissue, has been found to infiltrate the brain in certain circumstances. This infiltration can occur in response to various factors, including obesity, high-fat diet, and inflammation.
Inflammation and White Fat Infiltration
Research has shown that neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, can transiently infiltrate intra-abdominal fat early in the course of high-fat feeding. This infiltration can lead to the activation of immune responses and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which can have negative effects on brain health.
Visceral Obesity and White Matter Hyperintensities
Visceral obesity, characterized by an excessive accumulation of fat around the abdominal organs, has been linked to deep white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in the brain. WMHs are associated with vascular risk factors and increase the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and stroke. The relationship between visceral obesity and WMHs is thought to be mediated by inflammation, as visceral obesity is linked to higher circulating levels of inflammatory markers such as IL6 and CRP.
Implications for Brain Health
The infiltration of white fat into the brain can have negative consequences for brain health, including the development of WMHs and potentially even neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the activation of immune responses and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines can lead to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, which can contribute to neurodegeneration.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8302366/
How much of this is going to be treated as approval for an irresponsible diet?
You should be ashamed of inferring your ideas came from a reputable source.
Most of what you posted is from your imagination and NOT from the link.
Um, no
“Anything but eat healthy and stay active.”
The length that so many people go to avoid these two items is mind boggling.
You must be fat and worried. Here you go, there’s hope if you lose your gut:
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000201538
It confused the daylights out if me seeing two different FReepers with some variant of ‘Texas’ in their name, crossing swords.
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