Fats are essential for allow the body to function normally. However, it is important to know distinguish good fats from bad. These are saturated fats and trans fats, harmful to health when consumed at too high a dose. This in fact leads to a metabolic disorder, which has many health implications. A disordered metabolism promotes weight gainwhich can cause various diseases, such as overweight, obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Good news, however: researchers from the University of California (USA) may have discovered how harmful effects of a high fat diet can be cancelled. For this, they were interested in the AMPK protein. Their results were published in the journal Nature Communications on March 13, 2023.
The AMPK protein is an enzyme known to regulate metabolism and energy activity. Thus, AMPK controls the appetite and helps to maintain its balance. Have a diet too high in fat disrupts this protein, which has the effect of disrupting the entire metabolism. Biologists have therefore looked into this protein to see how, despite a high-fat dietit is possible to restore it for regulate metabolism. Indeed, until now, the role of cells on this mechanism had not been studied.
For this, the researchers carried out tests on mice. They mainly focused on a component of the AMPK molecule called SAPS3. They sought to see, in the mice tested, what impact the removal of this molecule could have. For this they have deleted the molecule in half of the subjects and left it in the others. They also, in each of the groups, kept a control group which was administered a balanced dietand another which had to eat meals that were high in 45% fat. The observation lasted 16 weeks.
High-fat diet: removing SAPS3 reverses its effects
At the end of the 16 weeks, the researchers observed impressive results. “Deleting the inhibitory component of SAPS3 released AMPK in these mice to activate, which allowed them to maintain a normal energy balance despite the consumption of a large amount of fat“, explains Mei Kong, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and author of the study.We were surprised at how well they maintained a normal weightavoiding obesity and the development of diabetes”, adds the researcher.
The scientists point out that “the inactivation of SAPS3 had no significant effect on mice fed a balanced control diet“. Thus, the removal of this molecule does not affect people with a balanced diet. Its effects are only visible in mice that eat too many fatty foods. The scientists also emphasize the differences between the mice that kept the SAPS3 molecule and those from which it was removed, among the subjects who consumed fat: “The mice that underwent a suppression of the SAPS3 molecule significantly reduced the increase in body weight to a level similar to that of mice fed the control diet.“
Obesity, diabetes… could the AMPK protein be the solution?
These initial results are very promising according to the team, which sees a hope of treatment to help counter the negative effects of a diet that is too high in fat. “If we block this inhibitory activity, we will be able to help people reactivate their AMPK, and therefore regulate their metabolism”, says Professor Ying Yang. “It could help to overcome disorders such as obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease and other diseases related to metabolic dysregulation. It’s important to recognize the importance of normal metabolic function for every aspect of the body.”
Currently, researchers are working on the development of molecules that could inhibit SAPS3. They also plan to study its role in other pathologies resulting from a disturbed metabolism, such as cancer.