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Being Fat Needn't Be All Bad News

Date:
August 27, 2007
Source:
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Summary:
Many individuals become type 2 diabetics because the cells of their body no longer respond to insulin. It is thought that one reason over eating causes insulin resistance is that fat is deposited in organs of the body, such as the liver, rather than in the fat tissue.
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Many individuals become type 2 diabetics because the cells of their body no longer respond to insulin.

It is thought that one reason over eating causes insulin resistance is that fat is deposited in organs of the body, such as the liver, rather than in the fat tissue. This idea is now supported by the work of Phillip Scherer and colleagues at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, who have shown that insulin resistance in mice is not determined by how fat they are but rather where the fat is stored.

Mice that are obese because they lack leptin (ob/ob mice) become insulin resistant. In the new study, researchers show that if ob/ob mice are engineered to express adiponectin they do not become insulin resistant.

However, these mice were morbidly obese and the mass of their fat tissues was much increased compared with normal ob/ob mice. The authors therefore suggest that an inability to maintain high levels of adiponectin might be what causes insulin resistance in individuals who over eat because it would mean that the excess food they consume is stored in regions of the body other than the fat tissues.

Article: Obesity-associated improvements in metabolic profile through expansion of adipose tissue


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Materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


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Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Being Fat Needn't Be All Bad News." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August 2007. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823213652.htm>.
Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2007, August 27). Being Fat Needn't Be All Bad News. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 29, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823213652.htm
Journal of Clinical Investigation. "Being Fat Needn't Be All Bad News." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823213652.htm (accessed March 29, 2024).

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