ScienceDaily: Belly Fat May Drive Inflammatory Processes Associated With Disease
Science Daily — As scientists learn more about the key role of inflammation in diabetes, heart disease and other disorders, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that fat in the belly may be an important promoter of that inflammation.
In this abdominal MRI scan, it is possible to see subcutaneous fat around the abdomen, surrounding abdominal muscles. Visceral fat is deeper inside the abdomen, surrounding internal organs.It is the visceral fat that secretes IL-6, strongly suggesting a mechanistic link to systemic inflammation. (Credit: Image courtesy of Washington University School of Medicine)Ads by Google Advertise on this site
Excess fat is known to be associated with disease, but now the researchers have confirmed that fat cells inside the abdomen are secreting molecules that increase inflammation. It's the first evidence of a potential mechanistic link between abdominal fat and systemic inflammation.
For years, scientists have been aware of a relationship between disease risk and excess belly fat. "Apple-shaped" people, who carry fat in the abdomen, have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and other problems than "pear-shaped" people, who tend to store fat in the hips and thighs. Too much abdominal fat is associated with a defect in the body's response to insulin.
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Not just any belly fat will cause inflammation, however. Back in 2004, Washington University investigators found that removing abdominal fat with liposuction did not provide the metabolic benefits normally associated with similar amounts of fat loss induced by dieting or exercising.
"Despite removing large amounts of subcutaneous fat from beneath the skin -- about 20 percent of a person's total body fat mass -- there were no beneficial medical effects," says Samuel Klein, M.D.
[...]
In this new study, researchers looked instead at visceral fat -- the fat that surrounds the organs in the gut. Unlike subcutaneous fat, visceral fat is not easy to remove surgically because it is very close to the intestines and other internal organs. Since they couldn't just take out the fat, the research team decided to analyze the blood that ran through it to determine whether visceral fat was involved in inflammation or whether, like subcutaneous fat, it was merely a marker of potential problems.
Reporting in the journal Diabetes, the research team says visceral fat likely contributes to increases in systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. They sampled blood from the portal vein in obese patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery and found that visceral fat in the abdomen was secreting high levels of an important inflammatory molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6) into portal vein blood.
Science Daily — As scientists learn more about the key role of inflammation in diabetes, heart disease and other disorders, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that fat in the belly may be an important promoter of that inflammation.
In this abdominal MRI scan, it is possible to see subcutaneous fat around the abdomen, surrounding abdominal muscles. Visceral fat is deeper inside the abdomen, surrounding internal organs.It is the visceral fat that secretes IL-6, strongly suggesting a mechanistic link to systemic inflammation. (Credit: Image courtesy of Washington University School of Medicine)Ads by Google Advertise on this site
Excess fat is known to be associated with disease, but now the researchers have confirmed that fat cells inside the abdomen are secreting molecules that increase inflammation. It's the first evidence of a potential mechanistic link between abdominal fat and systemic inflammation.
For years, scientists have been aware of a relationship between disease risk and excess belly fat. "Apple-shaped" people, who carry fat in the abdomen, have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and other problems than "pear-shaped" people, who tend to store fat in the hips and thighs. Too much abdominal fat is associated with a defect in the body's response to insulin.
[...]
Not just any belly fat will cause inflammation, however. Back in 2004, Washington University investigators found that removing abdominal fat with liposuction did not provide the metabolic benefits normally associated with similar amounts of fat loss induced by dieting or exercising.
"Despite removing large amounts of subcutaneous fat from beneath the skin -- about 20 percent of a person's total body fat mass -- there were no beneficial medical effects," says Samuel Klein, M.D.
[...]
In this new study, researchers looked instead at visceral fat -- the fat that surrounds the organs in the gut. Unlike subcutaneous fat, visceral fat is not easy to remove surgically because it is very close to the intestines and other internal organs. Since they couldn't just take out the fat, the research team decided to analyze the blood that ran through it to determine whether visceral fat was involved in inflammation or whether, like subcutaneous fat, it was merely a marker of potential problems.
Reporting in the journal Diabetes, the research team says visceral fat likely contributes to increases in systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. They sampled blood from the portal vein in obese patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery and found that visceral fat in the abdomen was secreting high levels of an important inflammatory molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6) into portal vein blood.
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