Causes of obesity

According to a recent study, it was found that immune cells are able to fight not only with viruses and bacteria, but also with fats.

Israeli scientists led by Yair Reisner from the Weizmann Institute studied autoimmune diseases and their relationship with cytotoxic proteins called perforins. These substances select the target cell, after which they form pores in it, which leads to its subsequent death. According to the scientists' suggestion, cells containing perforins should lead to the destruction of their own cells, which would lead to the development of an autoimmune reaction.

But in the course of the conducted studies it was found out that as a result of this there is not the development of an autoimmune disease, but the metabolic syndrome is marked - obesity. The study of this process took place on animals, which at the same time gained weight, the level of their cholesterol increased. They also had the first signs of developing insulin resistance and detected blood markers indicating hypertension and heart disease. At the same time, a mismatch in the balance of different T-cell populations was observed in mice. In this case, after the removal of T-cell data, phenotypic differences were observed in animals.

This study, according to scientists, provides information on the importance of dendritic cells with perforin. In particular, their influence, which they exert on T-cells. According to the researchers, perforin helps in getting rid of unnecessary T-cells by analogy, as it happens during the fight against infection. If the removal of this regulator( dendritic cells with perforin) is observed, then under the influence of T cells in the fat cells an inflammatory process begins, which causes a metabolic disorder and as a result of weight gain.

At the University of Toronto, scientists led by Daniel Weiner conducted similar studies and obtained similar results proving the importance of perforin.

While all such studies are conducted only on animals and early talking about doing them on a person. But gradually scientists are moving forward in the issue of identifying the causes of obesity and identifying the targets of this disease. Over time, they may be able to detect all the exact causes leading to obesity, which will help in developing and implementing effective therapies for this disease.

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