A new study shows how an endogenous stress signal from fat cells could protect against heart damage caused by the possible consequences of obesity. The study results could also explain a paradox in obesity. This is about a phenomenon in which people who are overweight compare to slim peoplebetter cardiovascular healthhave. Ultimately, however, this effect has a rather negative impact on the long-term forecast.
Preventing the effects of obesity on heart health
The mechanism the study authors identified could be one of many that protects the heart when people are overweight. The metabolic stress of obesity gradually renders adipose tissue dysfunctional, causing its energy-producing mitochondria to shrink and die. Eventually, this unhealthy fat loses the ability to store lipids created by excess calories in the diet, resulting in what is known as lipotoxicity. However, some organs, including the heart, appear to mount a preemptive defense to protect against lipotoxicity. However, how the heart perceives the dysfunctional state of fat is still unknown. To counteract mitochondrial stress caused by high-fat diets, heart cells produce a flood of protective antioxidant molecules. This protective counter-reaction was so strong in the study that the researchers observed significantly less heart damage. Further research using adipose tissue samples from obese patients showed that these cells also release extracellular vesicles. The results show that the effects observed in mice could also occur in humans.
The research team found that the lipotoxic effect overwhelms the heart and other organs in obese individuals, consequently leading to many comorbidities of obesity. By better understanding fat's distress signal, scientists could potentially use the mechanism to improve heart health in obese and non-obese people alike. Learning the artificial generation of the inthis studyThe identified protective mechanism could also lead to new ways to mitigate the negative consequences of obesity. This knowledge would even enable new strategies to protect the heart from damage, even in slim people.
