Why Some People NEVER Get Fat

The enzyme, MGAT2, determines whether dietary fat is used to generate energy or stored under the skin around the waist. The discovery of its role could be the key to preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease

Scientists found that mice missing the gene for MGAT2 were able to feast on a high fat diet without becoming flabby or overweight. Mice lacking MGAT2 were also protected against glucose intolerance - a precursor to diabetes - high cholesterol and a build up of fat in liver cells.

Enzymes are biological catalysts that are essential for numerous biological functions MGAT2 is one of three MGAT enzymes found in the intestines of both mice and humans. Cutting MGAT activity with drugs could be another way to combat obesity, the scientists believe.

Dr Robert Farese, from the University of California at San Francisco, and colleagues, reduced MGAT activity in mice by more than half by knocking out MGAT2. On a low fat diet, the mice developed in just the same way as normal animals. But on a 60 per cent fat diet, they gained much less weight.

After 16 weeks, the experimental mice weighed 40 per cent less than mice with functioning MGAT2 genes and the amount of fat they carried was more than 50 per cent lower. Further studies showed that mice lacking MGAT2 had less insulin in their blood and better glucose tolerance after prolonged high-fat feeding than normal mice.

They also had reduced concentrations of harmful cholesterol in their blood. A high level of low density lipoprotein (LDL), known as "bad", cholesterol, is a major risk factor for heart disease.A chief reason for the current obesity epidemic is thought to be that the human body still behaves as it did many thousands of years ago when food was far more scarce.

The excess calories eaten today are stored away as fat to help in leaner times which never arrive. MGAT enzymes appear to play an important role in this energy storage process.Reporting their findings in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers wrote: "Our studies identify MGAT2 as a key determinant of energy metabolism in response to dietary fat and suggest that the inhibition of this enzyme may prove to be a useful strategy for treating obesity and other metabolic diseases associated with excessive fat intake."

Call Center Outsourcing : We Are A Trusted Offshore Service Provider Offering Low Cost, Inbound Call Center, 24/7 Call Center Services, Data Entry Services & Knowledge-driven Services To Enterprises In US, UK & Europe.

Female Brains More Valuable Than Male Brains

Writing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a group of researchers found that nutrient deprivation of neurons produced sex-dependent effects. Male neurons more readily withered up and died, while female neurons did their best to conserve energy and stay alive.

That's right, nature has declared female brains should survive with a lot less than males. Take that, glass ceiling!

The idea that the sexes respond differently to nutrient depravation is not new and revolves around the male preferences to conserve protein and female preferences to conserve fat. However, these metabolic differences have really only been examined in nutrient-rich tissues like muscles, fat deposits, and the liver.

Robert Clark and colleagues at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examined whether this sex-dependent response in starvation could manifest in brain cells. They grew neurons taken separately from male and female rats or mice in lab dishes and subjected them to starvation over 72 hours.

After 24 hours, the male neurons experienced significantly more cell dysfunction (measured by analyzing cell respiration, which decreased by over 70% in male cells compared to 50% in female cells) and death. Visually, male neurons also displayed more abundant signs of autophagy, whereby a cell breaks down its components as a fuel source, while female neurons created more lipid droplets to store fat reserves.

As with other cell culture studies, the researchers note these results may not be truly indicative of what happens in living animals during starvation, but it allows them to look at the neurons independent of external factors like circulating hormones.

An Alarm To Warn A Heart Attack

The alarm that tells if you Are Going To Have Heart Attack

A device implanted in the chest that can warn when someone is about to have a heart attack, is being trialled in the U.S.The matchbox-sized gadget vibrates gently when it detects changes in the heart's electrical patterns that signal a heart attack is about to strike.

It also sends a message to a pager carried by the patient, which beeps to make sure they are aware of the danger. The revolutionary implant, called the AngelMed Guardian, could alert patients several hours, or even days, before they fall ill, giving them time to seek emergency help and saving lives in the process.

It is undergoing trials in America, but has already been approved for use in some parts of the world, such as Brazil. It's hoped the device will reduce the death toll from heart disease.

Every year, around 270,000 people in Britain suffer a heart attack, and coronary disease remains Britain's biggest killer. About a third of sufferers die before reaching hospital, often because they have delayed seeking help (having ignored the warning signs, such as pain in the chest, shoulders, back or jaw, or because they did not realise such symptoms can be linked with heart problems).

Research carried out by the British Heart Foundation shows 42 per cent of people who experienced pain or discomfort in their chest, arms or shoulders preferred to wait and see how it developed before calling an ambulance. The AngelMed Guardian could be used to help those most at risk, such as patients who have already suffered a heart attack and are, therefore, in greater danger of another.

It resembles the pacemakers already used to control the heart rate in patients with irregular rhythms. A tiny box is implanted on the left side of the chest underneath the collar bone. A wire runs from the box to the right ventricle, one of the two major pumping chambers in the heart. On the end of the wire is an electrode, which is surgically attached to heart muscle.