“Tricking” the liver in burning carbohydrates dissolves a longer long -term weight loss

The beating of a plateau after a steady run of weight loss has derailed many health and fitness plans. But what if you could turn a biological switch that would exterminate the plateau and accelerate the metabolism? Scientists may have found the key to this – and it was full of coincidence.

During the examination of the role of liver in the metabolism, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark (USD) made a surprising genetic discovery and identified, as a well-known gene plasmalemma vesicel-associated protein expressed plenty PLVAP – had an enormous impact on how the body was fasting. And turning this gene blocked all metabolic changes and “the body” to believe that there is no fasting and there is a wealth of energy.

“If we can control the burning of sugar and fat through the liver, we can also increase the effectiveness of medication to weight loss and diabetes,” said Kim Ravnskjaer, Associate Professor at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department. “If we could develop a medication that maintains fat or sugar at its original high level in addition to weight loss treatments, people can continue to lose beyond the usual plateau.”

Under normal conditions, fasting causes the liver to oxidize fatty acids instead of burning carbohydrates (sugar, fat). But when PLVAP Was switched off, this switch was designed and the liver was continued without change. This essentially means that the metabolism remains high and the liver absorbs the fuel significant for weight loss.

PLVAP was previously connected exclusively to the endothelial cell function. However, the new study has identified its crucial role in the combustion of fatty acids in order to keep the body going in times of “hunger” or much less consumed calories. Mice that were constructed without them PLVAP The gene continued a high use of carbohydrates and was redirected into the muscles rather than the liver. They also showed no negative effects of this changed function, which indicates that every fuel – and for us it is much better if we make the liver believe that it is “business as usual” – this is the optimal weight loss mode.

The scientists believe that a kind of knockout therapy plateaus of the past belongs and, in addition to Wegovy, could be a complementary medicine. While these are absolutely groundbreaking weight loss drugs, there is still a point where things get slower-even if someone has to go much further.

“It usually runs well at first, but if people lose some of the weight they want to take off, their progress is because the metabolism of the body adapts,” said Ravnskjaer.

Interesting, PLVAP Existed in hepatic star cells (HSC) and examined the role in liver fibrosis until this study. And it was never associated with the lipid (fat) metabolism. The news that the gene also regulates the metabolism offers enormous research opportunities -both in obesity and in metabolic diseases, but also in type -2 diabetes.

“It is a long way from knowledge in mouse experiments to a medication – but this is obviously the potential in our research,” said Ravnskjaer.

“This is the first functional study of PLVAP In non-endothelial cells and in the first study to show the sinusus perikyte participation of liver on the metabolic regulation, the researchers wrote at work. “Loss of HSC PLVAP Increases the liver liner insulinization and changes the liver thread metabolism from the preferred use of fatty acids to carbohydrates.

‘”HSC-specific ablation of PLVAP In the case of mice, liver sulin signaling and improved glucose tolerance, ”they added.

The study was published in the magazine Cell metabolism.

Source: University of Southern Denmark