Bone structure at risk in obese children
Children under the age of 18 with increased fat mass have compromised bone growth. A recent literature review has found that fat deposited within muscle may have an effect on how bones grow. Joseph Kindler, the study’s lead author, gathered existing research into the effects of muscle and fat mass on bone geometry (the spatial distribution of bone and how dense bone materials are in the body). It is already known that fatter children tend to have more muscle mass, as the body needs to move larger amounts of weight, so needs to be stronger. This study found that increased muscle mass in children will subsequently increase bone growth.
However, the study also discovered that the fat found in obesity is deposited within muscles. The effect of this fat is still being investigated; however it is clear that there is a connection with bone growth, which is possibly negative. A reduction in strength, such as the one seen, could lead to an increased risk of fractures in these children and adolescents. Overall the paper stresses that whilst an increased muscle mass is most likely beneficial for bone geometry, an increased muscle mass accompanied with an increased fat mass may actually be harmful; more research needs to be conducted into this area in order to fully understand the complex mechanisms of bone growth and fat influence.
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Changes in gut microbiome burn fewer calories
Many anti-psychotic drugs induce weight gain. A new study conducted at the University of Iowa has concluded this may be due to alteration of the gut microbiome, changes in which have been associated with obesity. The researchers analysed the effects of the drug risperidone, an anti-psychotic drug that is commonly prescribed to adults and children as treatment for disorders including autism, bipolar, and schizophrenia. The researchers were building on previous knowledge that showed that risperidone increases weight in humans, however they did not know what the mechanism was, until now.
Using mouse models, they were able to measure changes in the gut microbiome that caused a reduction in resting metabolic rate. This shift eventually led to obesity in the risperidone mice, whereas the control mice had normal weight gain with age. The measurements were taken using a total calorimetry machine, which accurately measures energy intake, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide output and heat production, that allowed the researchers to accurately determine the total energy changes of the mice and their metabolic rates. They were also able to repeat the results by faecal transplants from the risperidone mice to the control mice, proving that the weight changes were due to a microbiome change in the drug-using mice. The study as a whole suggests that manipulation of gut bacteria, and specifically the resting metabolic rate, may prove beneficial for patients undergoing risperidone treatment, but also for those suffering from obesity in general.
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Diabetes reversed by reducing pancreatic fat
Researchers in Newcastle University have managed to reverse Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by encouraging fat loss around the pancreas in obese patients. They found that losing less than one gram of fat that accumulates around the pancreas can reverse diabetes. Some participants in the study had T2DM and underwent gastric bypass surgery, with an average diagnosis of T2DM of 6.9 years, whilst some did not have T2DM. After the operation it was found that both groups had lost a similar amount of weight, but the pool of fat surrounding the pancreas in the diabetics was reduced. Furthermore, in these patients insulin secretion and response returned to normal, effectively reversing the diabetes.
The new research demonstrated that changing the level of fat around the pancreas can have a great effect on the presence of T2DM. In addition to this, the disparity of effects between the diabetic and the non-diabetic patients showed that decrease in pancreatic fat is not just related to weight loss, it is specific to T2DM. It is thought that the pool of fat surrounding the pancreas is therefore a direct cause of T2DM. Overall, the study provides hope, with a possibly simple intervention, for those suffering from both obesity and T2DM.
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Obesity can lead to metastases in cancer patients
A high BMI is associated with a lower survival rate amongst ovarian cancer patients. Researchers in France have found that tumour cells in obese women were more successful at metastising than in those who were leaner. The researchers used mouse models to evaluate tumour cell adhesion to the abdominal cavity and also cell division. They found that lipid-loading the areas around the tumour cells, and also feeding the mice high-fat diets, increased the ability of more cells to develop and subsequently break away and form adhesions to other tissues in the body. These two steps are key in the formation of ovarian cancer metastases.
There is hope that further research into this area may provide dietary interventions to slow, or possibly halt, metastases in ovarian cancer. However, the researchers have admitted that they are still in the very early stages of study for these complicated areas. They also suggest that more research is undertaken in specific mechanisms by which obesity impacts the formation of metastases.
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Increased risk for poorer children
A new study conducted across the UK has questioned why poorer children are more at risk of obesity than their richer peers. The researchers used data from almost 20,000 families that have taken part in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) which tracks measurements taken from children at 5 years old and 11 years old. They found that children in the bottom income quintile were nearly 3 times as likely to develop obesity as those in the top income quintile.
The researchers took into account many different factors including the children’s environment (including parental behaviours) and health behaviours. They also assessed the amount of physical activity that the children were undertaking and what their dietary habits were. They found that interventions, particularly behavioural mediation, amongst richer children were started earlier on in life, whilst poorer families received less support in dietary and physical activity advice. They also stressed the importance of reducing the income inequalities in overweight and obesity by widening access to childhood support and early interventions.
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Father’s sperm influence children’s weight
Information about the weight of a potential father that’s carried in sperm could influence his child’s health. Researchers from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research conducted a study that compared the epigenetic patterns in a group of lean men to a group of obese men. Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene expression caused by environmental factors without changing the underlying DNA sequence. They found that the two groups possessed different epigenetic patterns in their sperm with regards to genes involved in controlling appetite. The results are considered to offer an explanation as to why the children of obese fathers are likely to become obese themselves.
The discovery that weight loss in potential fathers could affect behaviour in their offspring is very exciting. It paves the way for new prevention strategies for childhood obesity. In the last bulletin we reported that the weight of mothers to be could also influence the health of a child so, coupled with this new information, it is clear that the behaviours of couples pre-conception could be very important in the future health of their children.
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Cold temperatures can lead to fat loss
Exposure to cold temperatures leads to changes in the composition of gut microbes, increasing the burning of fat. This is the conclusion of a study recently published in Cell. Conducting experiments in mice, the researchers found that cold exposure led to such a microbial change that fat metabolism and glucose metabolism increased, whilst the body weight of the mice decreased. The mice were exposed to cold temperatures for 10 days, and the bacteria in their guts were harvested and transplanted into microbe-free guts of other mice. The glucose and fat metabolism of these mice increased, whilst they also lost weight.
However, after 3 weeks of cold exposure, the weights of the mice returned to normal. It was suspected that the intestines of these mice had grown, allowing it to absorb more nutrients, meaning that additional weight loss was being counteracted. Mirko Trajkovski, senior author, said, “Gut microbes enable mammals to harvest more energy from food as a way to adapt to the increased energy demand associated with long periods of cold exposure, protecting against hypothermia. We were surprised to see that gut microbes had such dramatic effects on the structure and function of the intestine.” The authors are keen to start exploring the therapeutic potential of the identified microbes, as they could provide promising targets for the prevention and treatment of obesity.
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High-fat diet can result in cognitive decline
A high fat diet can stimulate our immune cells to interfere with the connections between our neurones in our brain, known as synapses. This is the result of a study, originating in Georgia, USA that found that obesity causes chronic inflammation which in turn causes cells, known as microglia, in the brain to initiate an autoimmune response. Microglia are phagocytic cells that help the body’s immune system by fighting infectious agents in the brain but also are involved in the normal process of ‘synaptic stripping’. However in obesity they become activated and start to destroy the synapses instead. This study was conducted in two groups of mice that were given foods to mimic what a healthy diet and a fast food diet is like for humans. They found that after consuming a high fat diet, the mice recorded a lower level of activity in their hippocampus, the centre of learning and memory, which was due to the loss in synapses.
Thankfully, a low-fat diet of two months has been shown to reverse the effects of the autoimmune response, in mice. This brings hope not only to obesity sufferers but also to those with autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis as they are gaining more of an understanding of the impact of the inflammatory process on cells such as the microglia.
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Bariatric surgery alters your food cravings
A new study claims that weight loss surgery can alter the reward pathways in your brain and therefore limit your sugar intake. Patients often report a change in food preferences after they undergo bariatric surgery, but clinicians have never really been sure why. The researchers aimed to build on prior knowledge that dopamine release can drive sugar cravings, whilst nutrient sensing in particular segments of the gut stimulates dopamine release. The researchers found that gastric bypass surgery in mice, the equivalent of the Roux-en-Y bypass in humans, resulted in less sugar-seeking behaviour by reducing the release of dopamine, which is heavily involved in reward systems.
The study suggests novel interventions that are less invasive and just focus on drugs that can reduce sugar cravings by targeting this pathway. More research needs to be conducted in order to find out if these effects are reproducible in other bypass surgery techniques. Furthermore, the results can create the basis of comparisons between different types of bariatric surgeries and how they each affect a patient’s behaviour.
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The more fat you have, the harder it is to burn fat
The more fat you have, the more your body produces a protein that inhibits the ability to burn fat. An international team of researchers have published a study in Nature Communication that suggests a protein called sLR11 acts to suppress the process of thermogenesis. This is the mechanism by which brown fat cells keep us warm and ‘burn fat’. Using mice models, the researchers were able to switch off the gene which codes for this protein. Mice, as well as humans, increase their metabolic activity when switched to a high calorie diet, this means that they burn calories faster. However these mice without the gene responded with a much greater increase in metabolism, and were subsequently able to lose more weight.
The study looked at data from 1.2 million births from 2003 to 2011, which included 5,530 infant deaths (defined as a death before the first birthday). They also found that levels of sLR11 in the human body correlated with levels of total fat mass. The study brings hope to the use of thermogenesis as a target for obesity therapy, and related co- morbidities. This is because thermogenesis, when controlled properly, offers a way of disposing of fat in a relatively safe manner. The study also sheds light on the problem of many overweight individuals not being able to lose weight, as they have more sLR11, and therefore store more fat rather than burning it.
To learn more about obesity, its prevention, and its treatment please look at CCH’s Postgraduate Academic Courses in Obesity Care, and CPD Short Courses in topics such as childhood obesity and behaviour change, designed to up-skill health professionals in this vitally important, and often overlooked, area of care.
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Weight loss BEFORE pregnancy can reduce infant death
Being a healthy weight before being pregnant, whilst gaining an appropriate amount of weight during pregnancy, reduces the risk of the baby dying in its first year. This comes from a study by the Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health that explored the effect of weight counselling in women of a reproductive age. Dr Lisa Bodnar explained that ‘a third of women begin their pregnancy at an unhealthy weight, whilst over half gain too much or too little during pregnancy’.
The study looked at data from 1.2 million births from 2003 to 2011, which included 5,530 infant deaths (defined as a death before the first birthday). They found that in all weight classes, other than severely obese, gaining less than, or more than, the recommended weight increased the risk of infant death. However, even those that were obese and lost weight for their pregnancy were found to have twice the risk of infant death. However the study showed that it was much safer to lose weight before becoming pregnant, in order to reduce the risk of infant death.
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‘Healthy diet’ is not the same for everyone
The way we metabolise foods differs from person to person, and one recent study is backing the idea of ‘personalised nutrition’. The study looked at the blood glucose levels of 800 people that consumed the same meals for a week. It is known that high blood glucose levels have a close association with obesity, pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. The glycaemic index (GI) is normally used to rank foods on how they affect blood sugar levels. However, this study suggests that the effects differ from person to person.
Although many factors may affect the glucose response, they found that some individuals had vastly different responses to food, and some even in the opposite direction. This highlights the fact that, although some recommendations on dietary intake can be made, they can actually be detrimental to some patients. In order to discover why such vast differences may occur between people, the researchers analysed stool samples and came to the conclusion that gut bacteria play a major role in the responses for each person. They then adjusted meals for some patients, according to their previous responses, and were able to reduce post-meal spikes in blood sugar. To this end, it seems that personalised nutrition needs to be a reality soon in order to curb obesity epidemics and provide effective interventions for those affected.
To learn more about obesity, its prevention, and its treatment please look at CCH’s Postgraduate Academic Courses in Obesity Care, and CPD Short Courses in topics such as childhood obesity and behaviour change, designed to up-skill health professionals in this vitally important, and often overlooked, area of care.
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