Genetic background to ravages of obesity
Why do some overweight people stay healthy (apart from possible musculo-skeletal disorders) while obesity in other individuals leads to complications like diabetes and cardiovascular disease? The explanation lies in the genes. Scientists at the Department of Clinical Sciences at Lund University in Malmö, Sweden , have identified a gene that exists in a special variant in most overweight people, a variant that makes fatty acids “leak” into the blood stream, where they don’t belong.
Fat is constantly being metabolized by the body-being produced, broken down, and rebuilt. Adiponutrin is a protein that takes part in this process. But overweight people often have a variant of the adiponutrin gene that causes the amounts of this protein to be lower than normal.
“Adiponutrin is supposed to constitute a kind of ‘corset’ that keeps fat in its place in fatty tissue. If the protein doesn’t do its job after a sugar-rich meal, fatty acids leak into the blood instead. The high content of fat in the blood then affects the cardiovascular system, the liver, muscles, and pancreas,” explains Associate Professor Martin Ridderstråle.
The difference between obese people who are healthy and those who develop diabetes and cardiovascular disorders may be the result of their having different variants of the adiponutrin gene and some other genes, he believes. The research team in Malmö is therefore busy developing a map of genes that can show what variants of key genes function as protection and as risk factors, respectively, in connection with these diseases.
“In the future this kind of mapping of an obese patient may be of significance in treatment. Certain medications, for example, might be more appropriate for people with certain gene variants. This opens the possibility of tailoring treatment to each individual,” says Martin Ridderstråle.
The research team’s findings on the adiponutrin gene are described in an article in the latest issue of the internationally recognized journal Diabetes.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://wwwlu.seAll latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry
Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.
Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.
Newest articles
“Nanostitches” enable lighter and tougher composite materials
In research that may lead to next-generation airplanes and spacecraft, MIT engineers used carbon nanotubes to prevent cracking in multilayered composites. To save on fuel and reduce aircraft emissions, engineers…
Trash to treasure
Researchers turn metal waste into catalyst for hydrogen. Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that…
Real-time detection of infectious disease viruses
… by searching for molecular fingerprinting. A research team consisting of Professor Kyoung-Duck Park and Taeyoung Moon and Huitae Joo, PhD candidates, from the Department of Physics at Pohang University…