Researchers discovered that by reducing irritation, chilly temperatures may help within the battle towards weight problems and associated metabolic illnesses.
Brown adipose tissue is activated by the chilly to launch anti-inflammatory compounds.
Over 40% of grownup Americans are overweight, a sophisticated situation that raises the danger of diabetes, coronary heart illness, and a number of other forms of most cancers. By creating low-grade persistent irritation and the buildup of immune cells in insulin-sensitive tissues, weight problems is one issue that may contribute to different well being points. Scientists consider that reversing, or “resolving,” this persistent irritation may delay the emergence of obesity-related illnesses like diabetes and maybe make it simpler to shed extra pounds.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Joslin Diabetes Center found that in diet-induced overweight mice, publicity to chilly temperatures improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance whereas resolving obesity-induced irritation. Their findings have been reported in a brand new paper that was revealed in Nature Metabolism.
“We discovered that cold exposure reduced inflammation and improved metabolism in obesity, mediated at least in part by the activation of brown adipose tissue.” — Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D.
The analysis workforce additionally discovered that the mechanism was depending on brown adipose tissue, which is often known as “good fat,” releasing a naturally occurring molecule known as Maresin 2 in response to chilly stimulation. Brown adipose tissue is named an lively endocrine organ as a result of it secretes molecules that talk with different tissues and handle metabolism. It additionally aids within the launch of saved vitality and will promote weight discount and metabolic well being.
“Extensive evidence indicates that obesity and metabolic syndrome are linked with chronic inflammation that leads to systemic insulin resistance, so interrupting inflammation in obesity could offer promising therapies for obesity-related disease,” mentioned co-corresponding creator Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D., a senior investigator within the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center and professor of drugs at Harvard Medical School.
“We discovered that cold exposure reduced inflammation and improved metabolism in obesity, mediated at least in part by the activation of brown adipose tissue. These findings suggest a previously unrecognized function of brown adipose tissue in promoting the resolution of inflammation in obesity.”
In two earlier experiments, Tseng and colleagues discovered that brown fats could also be activated by chilly publicity to create sure lipid mediators that management nutrient metabolism. In the present examine, the researchers recognized a novel function for a lipid mediator produced from brown fats to resolve irritation.
In the present examine, the researchers created a mouse mannequin that, when given a regular high-fat, Western eating regimen, develops weight problems.
When the animals have been uncovered to a chilly atmosphere (round 40 levels Fahrenheit), the researchers observed that the animals’ insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism improved and their body weight decreased, compared to control animals maintained at a thermoneutral zone – the environmental temperature where the body does not need to produce heat for maintaining its core body temperature.
What’s more, the scientists also noticed a profound improvement in inflammation, as measured by reduced levels of a major inflammatory marker.
“We found that brown fat produces Maresin 2, which resolves inflammation systemically and in the liver,” said co-corresponding author Matthew Spite, Ph.D., a lead investigator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. “These findings suggest a previously unrecognized function of brown adipose tissue in promoting the resolution of inflammation in obesity via the production of this important lipid mediator.”
Moreover, these findings also suggest that Maresin 2 could have clinical applications as a therapy for patients with obesity, metabolic disease, or other diseases linked to chronic inflammation; however, the molecule itself breaks down quickly in the body. Tseng and colleagues seek a more stable chemical analog for clinical use.
The team notes a shortcut to improved metabolic health may already exist. Multiple human studies conducted at Joslin and elsewhere show that exposure to mildly cold temperatures (50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit) has been shown to be sufficient to activate brown adipose tissue and improve metabolism, though the mechanisms are not well understood.
Reference: “Brown adipose tissue-derived MaR2 contributes to cold-induced resolution of inflammation” by Satoru Sugimoto, Hebe Agustina Mena, Brian E. Sansbury, Shio Kobayashi, Tadataka Tsuji, Chih-Hao Wang, Xuanzhi Yin, Tian Lian Huang, Joji Kusuyama, Sean D. Kodani, Justin Darcy, Gerson Profeta, Nayara Pereira, Rudolph E. Tanzi, Can Zhang, Thomas Serwold, Efi Kokkotou, Laurie J. Goodyear, Aaron M. Cypess, Luiz Osório Leiria, Matthew Spite, and Yu-Hua Tseng, 27 June 2022, Nature Metabolism.
DOI: 10.1038/s42255-022-00590-0
This work was supported in part by US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants (R01DK122808, R01DK077097, R01DK102898, R01HL106173, R01DK099511, R01DK112283, P30DK0368360) and by US Army Medical Research grant W81XWH-17-1-0428; the Manpei Suzuki Diabetes Foundation in Japan; grant 2019/20554-7 from The São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP; an American Diabetes Association post-doctoral fellowship (1-16-PDF-063); the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) grants 2017/02684 and 2019/26008-4.
Spite and Tseng are inventors of a pending provisional patent application related to Maresin 2 and metabolic therapeutics.
