Obesity is "good" and "bad"
Molecular differences between obesity with metabolic syndrome and "healthy" obesity were found
According to the content of this molecule in the body, it will be possible to separate metabolically healthy people with obesity and people whose obesity should lead to the development of metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes.
A quarter of overweight people have no metabolic changes characteristic of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and no signs of systemic inflammation. In such cases, they talk about "metabolically healthy" obesity. In search of biomarkers that would allow identifying such patients, the researchers collected a collection of blood serum samples and liver and adipose tissue biopsies from age-matched and BMI pairs of people with "healthy" obesity and insulin resistance.
In the group with metabolic changes, there was a larger waist circumference, more pronounced abdominal obesity, a higher ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoproteins and a higher level of a number of other molecules in the blood. The most interesting finding was a direct correlation between the degree of metabolic disorders and the level of hemoxygenase-1 expression in adipose tissue and in the liver.
The authors additionally studied the literature, since the proinflammatory effect of this enzyme had not been explicitly described before, and found several confirmations of the relationship between the level of hemoxygenase-1 and the manifestations of metabolic syndrome. For example, in a study of monozygotic twins discordant in BMI, the enzyme level was higher in more obese siblings (Pietilainen et al., 2008). Thus, in humans, the level of hemoxygenase-1 in adipose tissue and in the liver reflects the degree of metabolic disorders associated with insulin resistance and obesity.
Additionally, several animal experiments were conducted. In mice without the hemoxygenase-1 gene, there were fewer molecular markers of inflammation in macrophages than in control animals, and the removal of this gene in the liver in mice receiving high-calorie food improved liver function and insulin sensitivity. Thus, the pro-inflammatory effect of hemoxygenase-1 and its effect on the manifestations of metabolic syndrome were confirmed.
Further research will be aimed at determining the prognostic value of the enzyme level in humans and the development of drugs acting on it.
Article by Jais et al. Heme Oxygenase-1 Drives Metaflammation and Insulin Resistance in Mouse and Man is published in the journal Cell.
Popular retelling of the content of the article (Explaining 'healthy' obesity) can be read on the EurekAlert website! – VM.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.07.2014