May 25, 2012 Clippings

How high-fat foods trigger diabetes and metabolic syndrome

Scientists have found new clues about the health-damaging molecular changes set in motion by eating high-fat foods A better understanding of the body’s response to indulgent eating could lead to new approaches for treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome

High fat foods can contribute to obesity, which increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have learned that a key protein called Bcl10 is needed for the free fatty acids, which are found in high-fat food and stored in body fat, to impair insulin action and lead to abnormally high blood sugar In the laboratory study, mice deficient in Bcl10 were protected from developing insulin resistance when fed a high-fat diet.

Insulin helps control blood sugar, but insulin resistance can lead to the abnormally high blood sugar levels that are the hallmark of diabetes. Insulin resistance can occur as part of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease

“The study also underscores how very short-term changes in diet such as high-fat eating for only a few days, perhaps even less, can induce a state of insulin resistance,” said senior study author Peter C. Lucas, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at the University of Michigan

Researchers began by investigating how free fatty acids induce inflammation and impair insulin action in the liver. It’s thought the liver is a major target for the harmful effects of free fatty acids

In the liver, free fatty acids undergo metabolism to produce diacylglycerols prior to inducing the inflammatory response Diacylglycerols also activate NF-kB signaling which has been linked with cancer, metabolic and vascular diseases

The team of researchers concluded that Bcl10 is required for fatty acids to induce inflammation in the liver and insulin resistance. In the study, Bcl10 deficient mice showed significant improvement in regulation of blood sugar

“We were surprised to learn that Bcl10, a protein previously known for its critical role in immune cell response to infection, also plays a critical role in the liver’s response to fatty acid,” said Lucas. “This is an example of nature co-opting a mechanism fundamental to the immune system and using it in a metabolic organ, in this case, the liver,” he stated

Co-senior author Linda M. McAllister-Lucas, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatric hematology/oncology at the University of Michigan, added “These findings reveal a new and important role for Bcl10 and could lead to novel ideas for treating patients with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.”

The findings will be published May 31 in Cell Reports

Source: www.dnaindia.com        25.05.2012

Giving a new life... after death

From the thousands of deaths that take place in the city every week, only a small number of organs are donated. The list of needy recipients, meanwhile, continues to grow longer. Each of these are in dire need of either kidneys, liver, heart, eyes or other organs. Several of these patients die before they even reach the top of the list to receive an organ. As anxious families wait for donors, doctors say there is an urgent need to increase awareness about the requirement for organ transplants. While Mumbai has seen a fall in the number of donors in the last couple of years, there has been an increase in the number in 2012. But is it enough?

Who can donate an organ?

Organ donors are healthy people, who have suffered an irreversible brain injury or a brain hemorrhage resulting in brain death. Integrated medicines specialist Dr Anil Patil says, "The health of the donor, his organs and tissues are considered. Brain death means that the brain is no longer functioning and can never recover, but vital organs and tissues can be supported artificially for a limited time and used for transplantation. Tissues don't require the same special conditions as organs to survive, so tissue donation is possible even after the heart and lungs have stopped working.

Do blood and tissue type have to match the recipient's?

It is easier to transplant organs if the donor and recipient have a match. Tests are conducted to see whether blood and tissue types are compatible. However, an organ can be transplanted even if the blood and tissue types don't match. In such cases, the recipient is given special treatment to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ.

Becoming an organ donor

One needs to be in good health to be an organ donor. People who suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or other health problems are not eligible. When healthy person dies in an accident or even a brain hemorrhage, he/she can be an organ donor. Called cadaver donation, it is different from live donation, which is possible only in kidney and bone marrow.

"People have misconceptions on organ donations. Organ donation is not a taboo subject if the idea is put across properly. The Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Centre (ZTCC) has decided to start a cadaver organ donation support group for families who donate bodies of their loved ones. The support group can have meetings for donor families. Our idea was for them to help each other as they have gone through similar experiences and can also help less privileged members," says Dr Sujata Patwardhan, secretary, ZTCC Mumbai.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

25.05.2012

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one

Dr. Seuss