why obesity leads to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a finding that
may help experts target therapies to limit the health impact of being very
overweight.
A Japanese team discovered a protein that causes ongoing, low-grade
inflammation within fat tissues, which contributes to the health
consequences that come with obesity, said Yuichi Oike of Kumamoto
University in Japan.
The report appears in the Sept. 2 issue of Cell Metabolism.
The culprit Oike's team identifies is a fat-derived protein called
angiopoietin-like protein 2, or Angptl2. In mice, Angptl2 levels are
elevated in fat tissue. Those levels increase even more in the
oxygen-deprived conditions typically found within obese fat tissue.
Higher Angptl2 levels are also found in the blood of people with higher
body mass index and insulin levels.
Obese mice lacking Angptl2 show less inflammation in their fat tissue
and are less insulin resistant, the researchers report. Likewise,
otherwise healthy mice made to have higher than normal Angptl2 levels in
their fat tissue develop inflammation and insulin resistance.
Angptl2 starts an inflammatory cascade, causing blood vessels to
remodel and attracting immune cells called macrophages, they note.
The researchers concluded that Angptl2 is a new molecular target that
could be used to improve the diagnosis and treatment of obesity and
related metabolic diseases.
More information
Learn more about obesity from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention here.
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