New study on "Sick" fat cells

Ok, as if my fat cells were not unsavory enough now I found out that they are sick!! A very cool new study from Temple University showed that the fat cells in Obese people were significantly different than those in lean people. There were several issues however the most notable was that the fat cells in obese people showed stress on the (big word alert) Endoplasmic Reticulum. The endoplasmic reticulum helps cells synthesize proteins and monitors how they are folded. When stressed, it produces several proteins that ultimately lead of Insulin Resistance.

This is very interesting stuff. I am insulin resistant and have been for quite some time. I was tested when I was a teenager with a glucose tolerance test (which SUCKED big time). Insulin resistance basically means that when your body releases insulin from the pancreas, the cells in the muscle, fat and liver do not respond and uptake it. This leads to high circulating blood glucose levels and forces the pancreas to secrete more insulin. In time, type 2 diabetes will develop in most people. Of course, this is not good.

Why this study is really cool because for years there have been theories about why insulin resistance develops and now they can link it to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER for short from now on). In this study it showed that in obese patients, levels of 19 proteins were higher in their fat cells. Several of these proteins were related to energy and fat metabolism. What the researchers concluded was that the ER might sense nutritional excess (overeating) and translate that excess into metabolic and inflammatory responses.

This is very interesting because it helps explain why diabetic people who have their stomach stapled show dramatic improvements in insulin resistance within days of surgery even before significant weight loss occurs. It seems that the immediate and dramatic decrease in calorie intake is responsible for this improvement. More and more is coming out about low calorie diets and increasing life span. Maybe this is a big contributing factor. Very cool stuff indeed!!