Researchers of the National Cardiovascular Research Center (CNIC) (Spain), directed by Guadalupe Sabio, reveal the mechanism by which this fat is activated to produce heat eliminating excess fat.
The results, which are published in Biology, have potential clinical implications for the treatment of obesity and some pathologies related to it, such as diabetes.
In recent years, researchers are focusing on studying in depth the functioning of adipose tissue, specifically from brown fat, to better understand how you can fight against the problems caused by obesity.
Body fat is essential to maintain energy and regulate body temperature.But not all fat is the same.Metabolism has two types of fatty tissue: a white adipose tissue that stores extra calories and brown or brown, a ‘good’ fat that burns energy to generate heat.
Faced with the widespread vision that fat does not have a fundamental function, in recent years it has been seen that, on the contrary, this could be the solution to the problem of obesity.
In collaboration with the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL) and the University Hospital of Salamanca, the team has identified a new mechanism with future clinical implications.
The experts have demonstrated, in more than 150 samples of human adipose tissue, that the P38 alpha protein is in less quantity in the most obese people.According to Nuria Matesanz, another of the authors, "the P38 ALFA could regulate a key protein to activate brown fat, called UCP1, which is responsible for eliminating excess fat in the form of heat."
In their research with genetically modified mice and lacking P38 Alfa, scientists have shown that their absence in adipose tissue protects mice against obesity despite being fed with a fat diet.
This protection, ivana nikolic points out, "it is because the lack of the P38 alpha protein activates brown fat, thus eliminating the excess white fat in the form of heat."In addition, and no less relevant, the study shows that these mice, lacking P38 Alfa, are also protected against diabetes and fatty liver.
For wise, these results are very promising, since "they suggest that the pharmacological inhibition of P38 Alfa could be used as obesity therapy."The investigation has also thrown another important fact: the P38 Alfa protein controls the activation of another protein of the same family, P38 Delta, which would be responsible for regulating the temperature.
Thus, "when the mice are subjected to low temperatures, P38 Delta is activated, increasing the activity of brown fat."The mice lacking P38 Alfa, the researchers conclude, have over -activated the P38 Delta, which give them protection against obesity.(Source: SINC)