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Fat Cells Play Key Role in Causing Diabetes and Cancer
November 10, 2010: 1 comment(s)
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Recent findings from researchers suggest that fat cells can
turn on the immune system creating a chronic inflammatory
state that can injure tissue and cause disease.
Research at the University of Cincinnati by Drs. Jorge
Moscat, PhD, and Maria Diaz-Meco, PhD, showed that
specific enzyme changes in fat cells can activate the
immune system causing inflammation which then leads to
glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes. Additionally,
they believe, “…a similar mechanism of action is at play in
malignant tumor development.”
The human body is equipped with an immune system that
is designed to protect itself against infection and renegade
cells that can become cancerous. Scientists are now
coming to realize that many of the current illnesses like heart
disease, cancer and diabetes are the result of the chronic,
low grade activation of the immune system. Fat cells play a
key role in turning on the immune system causing disease.
The University of Cincinnati team focused on the actions
of a gene called PKC-zeta within fat cells. According to
Moscat, “In normal cells PKC-zeta regulates the balance
between cellular inflammatory responses to maintain
glucose control. During obesity-induced inflammation,
however, the function of PKC-zeta changes and the
molecule begins to promote inflammation by causing
adipocytes to secrete a substance (IL-6) that travels in large
quantities to the liver to cause insulin resistance.”
Fat cells become the link between inflammation and insulin
resistance, which are thought to drivers for heart disease,
cancer and diabetes.
As researchers learn more about the function of PKC-zeta,
they hope to use this gene to fight cancer or type 2 diabetes.
Moscat concludes, “This finding is quite novel because
current drug development efforts target immune cells…It
may be more effective to target adipocytes (fat cells).”
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Comments (Scroll to the end to leave a comment)
kehamilton
04/04/11 02:54
Interesting development. Hope it leads to some treatments.
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