Fighting excess weightDuring animal testsfed high-fat food. At the same time, using genetic engineering, scientists managed to influence the new enzyme and maintain normal weight of mice. According to experts, this is a specific for adipose tissue phospholipase A2. It is responsible for the chain of chemical reactions that suppress fat breakdown. "We have discovered a new enzyme in fat cells, which is a key regulator of fat metabolism and body weight, having discovered a promising path for finding means to treat obesity," says the lead author of the study, Professor Hei Suk Sul of the University of California at Berkeley. The new enzyme triggers a chain of processes that increase the number of prostaglandin E2 molecules, which suppresses fat breakdown. In the experiment, mice that had the "switched off" gene responsible for enzyme production were compared with a control group of normal mice, RIA Novosti cites an article published on the website of the journal Nature Medicine. At about three weeks of age, all mice were given unlimited amounts of very fatty and tasty food. The presence or absence of the enzyme did not affect appetite, as both groups of animals ate the same amount of food. However, as the mice grew older, discrepancies in the rate of weight gain became apparent. At 64 weeks of age - the age at which aging begins in laboratory mice - the animals lacking the enzyme weighed an average of 39.1 grams (a weight typical for mice on a low-fat diet), while the control mice weighed almost twice as much - 73.7 grams. The researchers found that the level of the new enzyme increased after eating, preventing fat breakdown, and decreased during fasting, promoting fat breakdown. They also found that the level of this enzyme was higher in obese mice. Previously, scientists believed that the endocrine system, primarily hormones, plays a major role in controlling fat metabolism. The new study shows that substances in the fat tissue itself are involved in regulating the process. Although some people also have mutations in the genes encoding the enzyme the scientists found, the effects of this mutation on humans have yet to be studied.
