▲Research results have shown that obesity interferes with mitochondrial function, affecting the metabolic level in the body. (Photo = DB)
[메디컬투데이=최재백 기자] Obesity has been shown to interfere with mitochondrial function, affecting the metabolic level in the body.
Research findings showing that obesity affects the level of metabolism in the body by interfering with mitochondrial function were published in the academic journal “Nature Metabolism.”
A research team at the University of California studied how hormones like insulin are regulated and where and when energy is stored or used.
Obesity changes the body’s metabolism by causing inflammation, insulin resistance, hormone dysregulation, and cell death in white adipose tissue.
The research team said that when fat cells and liver cells are overflowing with nutrients due to overeating, the cells adapt to store energy more efficiently while reducing the efficiency of energy burning , and attempted to explain the mechanism of this change at the molecular level.
They explained that obese people accumulate excess energy in their bodies, but since there is a limit to the amount that can be burned as an energy source, they look for ways to store the excess energy, and in the process, abnormal metabolism occurs.
They paid particular attention to changes in mitochondrial structure and function due to obesity. The researchers reported that the size of mitochondria in fat cells decreased in mice eating a high-fat diet, and that smaller mitochondria burned fat less well than larger mitochondria.
They said that in normal, non-obese states, mitochondria maintain mitochondrial health by repeating the cyclic process of fission and fusion, but the mitochondrial fission process becomes dominant due to obesity.
Furthermore, these changes were only found in subcutaneous fat, distributed mainly around the waist and thighs, suitable for burning or storing fat. In other words, the subcutaneous fat in the waist and thighs usually has larger and more active mitochondria than visceral fat, but due to obesity, the separation of mitochondria in the subcutaneous fat becomes excessive, causing the subcutaneous fat to look like to visceral fat and lose the ability to burn. fat.
The research team also discovered that mitochondrial separation is caused by a single molecule called RaIA.
According to the research team, RaIA is an essential master regulator for mitochondrial separation and is chronically activated during obesity to promote mitochondrial separation.
Since mice with a deletion of the RaIA-related gene were unable to gain weight even on a high-fat diet, the research team expected that this would open up a new avenue for the treatment and prevention of obesity. They concluded that obesity-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with RaIA-dependent pathways.
[ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]
#Discovery #molecules #responsible #metabolic #obesity
