An obesity treatment for women only?
Date:
March 9, 2022
Source:
University of Virginia Health System
Summary:
Researchers have identified a potential way to battle the health
effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes in women after discovering
an important factor that could determine how their bodies use and
store fat.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have identified a potential way to battle the health effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes
in women after discovering an important factor that could determine how
their bodies use and store fat.
========================================================================== Based on their new discovery, the researchers, led by Associate Professor
of Biomedical Engineering Mete Civelek, PhD, were able to change whether
female lab mice's bodies stored fat subcutaneously (under the skin)
or viscerally (wrapped around the organs). While visceral fat goes
unseen, hidden deep inside the body, it can be particularly harmful to
good health.
The researchers say their results in mice suggest that a similar approach
could help treat the effects of obesity and battle metabolic diseases,
such as diabetes, in women.
"There is a strong need for targeted therapies against metabolic
abnormalities caused by obesity and diabetes," said the study's first
author, Qianyi Yang, PhD, of UVA's Center for Public Health Genomics. "We
hope that increasing KLF14 abundance in fat cells of females with obesity
and diabetes may provide a novel treatment option to alleviate these
metabolic abnormalities." How We Store Fat Men and women naturally store
fat differently. Men tend to be more apple- shaped, meaning they store
fat around the waist, while women tend to be more pear-shaped. This is
because women store more subcutaneous fat and less visceral fat in their
lower body. Civelek's new findings help explain why.
========================================================================== Civelek and his team were investigating a particular gene, KLF14, that
has been linked to many different metabolic problems, including type
2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. These health associations are
more pronounced in women than men, but scientists haven't understood
the reason.
Civelek and his collaborators found that the KLF14 gene is a key regulator
of how the female body uses lipids (fats). The gene makes a protein that
plays a critical in how fat cells form, what type of fat they turn into
and where they are stored. When Civelek's team blocked the production of
this protein in lab mice, they noticed very different effects in males
and females: Females gained fat, while males lost it. The females also
stored fat differently than normal, gaining more visceral fat and less subcutaneous fat.
There were other sex-specific changes as well: The female mice suffered
slower metabolic rates and faster breathing, suggesting they were relying
more on carbohydrates for fuel. And their bodies became less efficient
at managing triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.
Interestingly, when the researchers amped up production of the KLF14
protein in in female mice, the mice lost weight. But male mice did not.
Based on what they've found, the researchers believe that increasing
production of the KLF14 protein in fat cells in women may offer a way to
treat the harmful effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes. More research
will be needed, but the researchers say it is promising that their mouse findings align closely with what we see in humans.
==========================================================================
"We are now working to create a drug delivery system that will target fat
cells and deliver a small molecule to increase KLF14 abundance," Civelek
said. "We hope to translate our laboratory's findings to the clinic to
help women fight the effects of obesity and diabetes." Obesity Findings Published The researchers have published their findings in the scientific journal Diabetes, a publication of the American Diabetes Association. The research team consisted of Yang, Jameson Hinkle, Jordan N. Reed,
Redouane Aherrahrou, Zhiwen Xu, Thurl E. Harris, Erin J. Stephenson,
Kiran Musunuru, Susanna R. Keller and Civelek. Musunuru is an adviser
and holds equity in Verve Therapeutics and Variant Bio.
The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, grant R01
DK118287, and the American Diabetes Association, grant 1-19-IBS-105.
UVA's Department of Biomedical Engineering is a collaboration of UVA's
School of Medicine and School of Engineering.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Virginia_Health_System. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Qianyi Yang, Jameson Hinkle, Jordan N. Reed, Redouane Aherrahrou,
Zhiwen
Xu, Thurl E. Harris, Erin J. Stephenson, Kiran Musunuru, Susanna R.
Keller, Mete Civelek. Adipocyte-Specific Modulation of KLF14
Expression in Mice Leads to Sex-Dependent Impacts on Adiposity
and Lipid Metabolism.
Diabetes, 2022; DOI: 10.2337/db21-0674 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220309095004.htm
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