Discovered a way to convert the main culprit of obesity, white fat, into beige fat

White fat is the culprit behind obesity..

 

First, I looked into the comparison between white fat and brown fat.

 

Types of fat: brown fat vs white fat

 

There are two types of fat in our body: brown fat and white fat. We looked into the differences between the two types and their roles in our body in detail.

 

White fat is mainly concentrated around the abdomen, thighs, and hips. Source: Midjourney

 

Why do colors differ?
As the name suggests, brown fat and white fat differ in color. Brown fat appears brown because it contains numerous mitochondria rich in iron. Mitochondria are organelles that generate energy, playing a role in producing energy. Brown fat is mainly distributed around the upper body, such as the neck, shoulders, and chest.

On the other hand, white fat is stored fat used for energy storage. It appears white because mitochondria are either absent or present in very small numbers. It is mainly concentrated around the abdomen, thighs, and hips.

What is its role in our body?
White fat stores energy. When energy is supplied, white fat stores it and uses it when needed. White fat is necessary for life maintenance, but excessive accumulation can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other conditions.

 

Brown fat is involved in temperature regulation and metabolic activity. Brown fat is specialized for heat production, maintaining body temperature and consuming energy through this process. Brown fat is found in the highest proportion in newborns. So, does fat tissue degenerate as we age? Brown fat tissue remains in adults as well, but it is usually inactive and is known to be activated under certain conditions.

Methods to promote the activation of brown fat
Brown adipose tissue is most active when the temperature is low. This is because it consumes energy to generate heat in order to maintain body temperature in cold weather.

Eating certain foods can help stimulate brown fat. In particular, capsaicin found in spicy foods helps activate brown fat, which stimulates fat burning. Additionally, catechins, curcumin, menthol, and omega-3 fatty acids are also known to promote the activation of brown fat.

 

 

U.S. research team: "Switch is KLF-15 protein... suggests potential for developing new obesity treatments"

 

 

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-young = American researchers have found a way to convert white fat cells, which cause obesity, into beige fat cells that burn calories. This finding explains the reasons behind the failure of related clinical trials and is expected to lead to the development of new weight loss drugs.

 

On the 2nd, Professor Brian Feldman's team at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that by limiting the production of a specific protein through experiments with mouse models and human fat cells, white fat is converted into beige fat.

 

Humans and other mammals have three types of fat cells: white, brown, and beige. White fat stores calories, brown fat burns energy to help maintain body temperature. Beige fat has properties of both white and brown fat; it burns calories but accumulates between white fat cells, unlike brown fat which forms clusters.

 

Mammals are born with brown fat, but human brown fat mostly disappears within the first year after birth. However, in cases of dieting or cold environments, white fat can transform into beige fat.

 

Scientists have been exploring the development of drugs that convert white fat into brown or beige fat to treat obesity, but have not succeeded.

Professor Feldman said that many people have tried to create brown fat from stem cells, and in this study, they aimed to find a switch that directly converts white fat cells into beige fat cells.

 

The research team focused on the 'KLF-15' protein, which was found in previous studies to play a crucial role in metabolism and fat cell function.

 

The results of investigating how KLF-15 functions in lifelong brown fat-maintaining mice showed that KLF-15 is more abundant in white fat cells than in brown or beige fat.

 

Let's create mice with white adipocytes deficient in KLF-15, and it was observed that the white fat in the body converted to beige fat.

 

The research team also discovered through experiments with human fat cells that KLF-15 regulates the amount of a receptor called 'Adrb1,' which is involved in maintaining energy balance.

 

The research team stated that scientists had previously discovered that stimulating the 'Adrb3' receptor in mice leads to weight loss, and they conducted clinical trials on drugs targeting this receptor but failed, indicating that the target of these drugs was incorrect.

 

Professor Feldman stated, "Drugs targeting human Adrb1 receptors are likely to be effective," and "these drugs could have significant advantages over new injectable weight loss medications that suppress appetite and blood sugar."

 

He added, "This method only affects fat accumulation without impacting the brain, and side effects can also be avoided. Although we haven't reached the final breakthrough yet, it is clear that this discovery could have a significant impact on obesity treatment."

 

◆ Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation, Brian Feldman et al., https://www.jci.org/