Scientists have linked abnormal fat loss to the development of diabetes
Adipose tissue is often considered the main enemy of health, but a new study by American scientists shows that everything is much more complicated. Experts have found that the loss of a certain type of adipose tissue can disrupt metabolism and cause the development of diabetes and fatty liver disease. The study, published in the journal Medical Xpress, also helped explain why people with a rare hereditary condition in which subcutaneous fat disappears face severe metabolic disorders. About the role that adipose tissue plays in the body and how a new discovery can help in the development of treatment methods — in the material of Izvestia.
Why Losing Fat is Dangerous Too: what the study showed
When it comes to health, excess adipose tissue is usually associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic disorders. However, researchers from the University of Michigan Medical Center have found that problems can occur in the opposite situation — when the body loses a certain type of adipose tissue.
The work was devoted to the study of familial partial lipodystrophy of the second type (FPLD2), a rare hereditary disease in which subcutaneous adipose tissue gradually disappears. Despite the reduction in the amount of fat, such patients often develop diabetes mellitus, fatty liver disease and other severe metabolic disorders. It is this paradox that scientists have tried to explain.
To understand the causes of the disease, the researchers created an FPLD2 model in mice by disabling the gene responsible for the production of lamin A/C protein in fat cells. It is mutations of this gene that are most often detected in patients with this form of lipodystrophy. Then the results of the experiment were compared with samples of adipose tissue from people suffering from this disease.
It turned out that the cells gradually lose their ability to store fat normally. At the same time, they disrupt the work of mitochondria, cellular structures that ensure energy production, and the tissue itself goes into a state of chronic inflammation. As a result, fat cells begin to die, which triggers a chain of metabolic disorders.
Jessica Maung, PhD, and the first author of the study
All these processes together create ideal conditions for adipose tissue to become unhealthy and eventually disappear.
According to scientists, it is the loss of healthy adipose tissue, and not just its excess, that can be one of the causes of serious metabolic disorders. This allows us to take a fresh look at the role of fat in the human body.
Adipose tissue is not just a store of energy: why does the body need it?
The authors of the study emphasize that adipose tissue should not be considered solely as a place to store extra calories. In fact, it is an active organ that participates in the regulation of metabolism, helps maintain energy balance and affects the functioning of other body systems.
That is why the loss of healthy adipose tissue can have no less serious consequences than its excess. When adipocytes, the cells of adipose tissue, cease to perform their functions, the body loses the ability to accumulate and distribute fat normally. As a result, lipids begin to be deposited where they should not be, such as in the liver and muscles, which increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases.
According to Professor and co-author of the study Elif Oral, the study of such rare diseases helps to better understand the processes occurring in much more common metabolic disorders.
Elif Oral, Professor and co-author of the study
This really highlights the importance of healthy fats for maintaining a normal and functional metabolism. People think of type 2 diabetes as a beta cell disease, but it's actually also a disease of fat cells.
Researchers believe that understanding the processes that lead to the destruction of adipose tissue may be the key to developing new approaches to the treatment of a number of metabolic diseases.
How the discovery will help in the treatment of diabetes and metabolic diseases
The authors note that the results of the study are important not only for patients with familial partial lipodystrophy. In their opinion, the discovered mechanisms can help scientists better understand why adipose tissue is disrupted in other metabolic diseases.
One of the main conclusions of the study was that the problems begin long before the disappearance of the adipose tissue itself: from the beginning, the cells lose their ability to function normally, their energy metabolism is disrupted and inflammation develops, and only then their gradual death occurs. This means that potential treatments may be aimed not at restoring already lost tissue, but at preserving its functions in the early stages of the disease.
According to the researchers, the next step will be to find ways to protect fat cells from damage and prevent the development of pathological changes. If such approaches prove effective, they may become the basis for new treatments not only for rare lipodystrophy, but also for other metabolic disorders.
Ormond McDougald, PhD
I believe that this work is an outstanding example of collaboration between a clinical researcher engaged in translational research and a physiologist working in the field of basic science. It is also impossible to overestimate the importance of patients and their participation in the development of treatment methods, as well as their desire to understand their disease.
The authors emphasize that the results obtained still require further study. However, research is already helping to take a fresh look at the role of adipose tissue in the body and shows that not only the amount of fat is important for maintaining health, but also its ability to perform its functions normally.
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