Another dream of losing weight without dieting and physical education
How to eat, sleep and not get fat
Roman Ivanov, Computer
If you do not suffer from food "alcoholism", skip this news, considering it another advertising trick – because, alas, it says that you can eat "everything and not get fat." However, you can also read it – because, as a recent study conducted at the University of California, Irvine (USA) on specially genetically modified mice showed, exactly such an incredible scenario can soon be implemented in humans. As it turned out, scientists are quite capable of making a "fabulous metabolism" a reality in the laboratory by blocking the synthesis of a cannabinoid compound that regulates the distribution of energy received by the body.
To obtain the "hypermetabolic" ability, the researchers, led by pharmacology professor Daniel Piomelli, made changes to the DNA of cells in the anterior part of the brain of mice in order to reduce the production of 2-AG (2-arachidonoylglycerol), an endocannabinoid compound produced in the brain of every mammal. Scientists believe that this compound plays a key role in the regulation of forebrain circuits involved in the distribution of energy received by the body.
Chemical structure of 2-AG
Mice deprived of the possibility of synthesizing 2-AG in sufficient quantities ate more and led a less mobile lifestyle compared to ordinary rodents, but at the same time did not think of getting fat, and even when they were fed a fat-rich feed. Especially interesting is the complete absence of what is called the collective term metabolic syndrome: no signs of high blood pressure, increased blood sugar, etc. nuances of metabolic, clinical and hormonal disorders that cause obesity and heart failure were observed.
As it turned out, the resistance of GM mice to obesity is explained by their ability to burn fat calories in a much more efficient way.
What is really going on? Mammals have two types of adipose tissue: white and brown fat. While white fat stores calories, brown fat burns them to produce additional energy and heat (this fat, as you remember, "warms" newborns, saving them from hypothermia, and its color is due to the increased iron content needed as a catalyst for the oxidation of fat with oxygen). In mice with suppressed synthesis of 2-AG, brown fat became hyperactive and began to be converted into energy at a very high rate (in comparison with simple mice). Potentially, such a result may well turn the entire multibillion-dollar industry of weight loss products upside down (on the other hand, brown fat in adults occupies a very small volume, and we owe our growing belly to white fat, and scientists do not say a word about it, although the meaning implies simultaneous conversion of white adipose tissue into brown, but this is speculation).
Of course, it will not work to do something similar with the human brain (or are you, the reader, not against it?). But why not, using the data obtained, take up the creation of a drug that blocks (albeit not completely) the synthesis of 2-AG in the brain, preventing the problem of obesity?..
In the meantime, information for reflection: the authors also say nothing about the possible side effects of blocking 2-AG. Maybe they don't exist (in the conditions of a developed civilization, when the loss of the ability to store "heat" is compensated by central heating), but most likely they are simply unknown. And one more thing, to suppress the synthesis of 2-AG in the brain, a hypothetical inhibitor will have to be able to overcome the blood-brain barrier, which may make it impossible to create an appropriate drug administered in any other way than direct injection into the brain (with a long needle). And this is not a pill to swallow...
An article on the work done (Jung et al., 2-Arachidonoylglycerol Signaling in Forebrain Regulates Systemic Energy Metabolism) was published in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
Prepared based on the materials of the University of California, Irvine: Blocking natural, marijuana-like chemical in the brain boosts fat burning.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
07.03.2012