Obesity Treatment Involving the Fat Cells and Blood Vessels

The regulatory roles of blood vessels in fat tissue functioning have been summarized recently, highlighting the associated therapeutic implications. The findings are published in the latest issue of the Chinese Medical Journal.

Diabetes and its associated consequences are a major health concern around the world. It leads to significant mortality. For instance, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) caused 1.5 million deaths in 2019. Of the various factors contributing to T2DM, obesity is a leading one.

Obesity - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Complications, Treatment
Obesity is a condition where there is excess accumulation of body fat which poses a risk to the health of the individual. It can affect children and adults.

‘The formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels that converts fat-storing cells into energy-releasing cells, may provide a possible gateway for treating obesity.’

Tweet it Now

Obesity primarily leads to alterations in adipose tissues, a type of connective tissue in the body that is associated with fat accumulation. Incidentally, there are two types of adipose tissues with distinct functions—white adipose tissue or WAT, which stores energy in the form of lipid droplets in the fat cells, and brown adipose tissue or BAT, which releases energy in the form of heat by lipid breakdown.

As it turns out, these adipose tissues are extensively enveloped by blood vessels, which have diverse roles including supply of oxygen and nutrition to the adipose tissue, development of the tissue, and regulation of lipid metabolism.

Recently, these blood vessels and their association with adipose tissues have garnered much attention in connection with metabolic disorders.

Brown Fat to Fight Flab
Around 50 grams of white fat stores 300 kilocalories. In contrast the same amount of brown fat burns 300 kilocalories a day. Such is the magic of this good fat.

The new review suggests that although both WAT and BAT are densely surrounded by blood vessels, BAT, in particular, is profusely vascularized because it executes highly demanding metabolic functions including thermogenesis or heat generation.

Probing the Role of Blood Vessels in Treating Obesity-Related Disorders

Apart from BAT, the browning of WAT (bWAT), in recent times, has also received attention because it may have implications for obesity-related disorders. Interestingly, vascularization—the formation of blood vessels from precursor cells—plays a crucial role in mediating the browning of WAT.

An important factor in this regard is the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), produced by the vascular endothelial cells that form the inner lining of blood vessels. This receptor, in turn, stimulates the release of signaling molecules like platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) from the endothelial cells. Consequently, PDGFs promote the maturation and browning of fat cells.

Diet and Nutrition for Healthy Weight Loss
Correct diet and a planned exercise regime is the mantra of healthy and sustainable weight loss.

Given the plethora of roles, vascularization plays in adipose tissue functioning, angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels, may provide a possible gateway for treating obesity.

Indeed, angiogenesis is beginning to show promise in the therapeutic domain. However, the therapeutic implications are complex and multifactorial. While in certain contexts, stimulation of angiogenesis may help in treating obesity, in other cases its inhibition is helpful.

Habits to Lose Belly Fat
Healthy dietary habits and regular physical activities are the best ways to balance energy intake and expenditure to get a slimmer belly.

Similarly, for diseases associated with obesity, like diabetic retinopathy, an eye disorder induced by diabetes, it is useful to block angiogenesis because vascularization is an underlying cause of the disease. Together, these findings point to a contextual role of vascularization, which should be an important consideration in therapeutic development.

This comprehensive overview could help further research to develop drugs that target blood vessels as an effective treatment for metabolic diseases.

Source-Eurekalert