A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania (USA) has successfully carried out a treatment of obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin). After injecting them with a viral vector that would increase the levels of TSLP in their bodies, four weeks later, the mice achieved a significant loss of abdominal fat and weight compared to those in the control group, although, unexpectedly, the loss of fat was not associated with less food intake or faster metabolism, but TSLP stimulated the immune system to release lipids through the skin’s oil-producing sebaceous glands. While the control group continued to gain weight, the weight of the TSLP-treated mice went from 45 grams to 25 healthy grams, on average, in just 28 days.
Sweating the fat
“It was a completely unforeseen finding, but we have shown that fat loss can be achieved by secreting calories from the skin in the form of energy-rich sebum ,” lead researcher Taku Kambayashi told the journal Science that published the study. “We believe that we are the first group to show a non-hormonal way to induce this process, highlighting an unexpected role for the body’s immune system.”
Additionally, the mice also decreased their visceral fat mass (the white fat that is stored in the abdomen around major organs, which can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke). These mice also experienced better fasting blood glucose and insulin levels, as well as a lower risk of fatty liver disease.
Does it have any negative effects?
According to the researchers, the only effect caused by this new treatment is that it leaves hair greasy , a problem without major complications and their findings support the possibility that increasing the production of sebum through the immune system could be a strategy to treat the obesity in humans. An option to consider, since, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1,000 million people in the world are overweight , and 300 million of them are obese.
Previous studies had suggested that these cells can regulate energy metabolism, so the team predicted that giving TSLP to overweight mice could stimulate an immune response that would counteract some of the harmful effects of obesity.
“Initially, we did not think that TSLP would have any effect on obesity itself. What we wanted to know was whether it could affect insulin resistance, ”clarifies Kambayashi. What was surprising was the weight loss without reduction in intake in the rodents.
“I do not believe that we control our weight naturally by regulating sebum production, but it is possible that we can speed up the process and increase sebum production to cause fat loss,” concludes the expert.
Referencia: “Thymic stromal lymphopoietin induces adipose loss through sebum hypersecretion” by Ruth Choa, Junichiro Tohyama, Shogo Wada, Hu Meng, Jian Hu, Mariko Okumura, Rebecca M. May, Tanner F. Robertson, Ruth-Anne Langan Pai, Arben Nace, Christian Hopkins, Elizabeth A. Jacobsen, Malay Haldar, Garret A. FitzGerald, Edward M. Behrens, Andy J. Minn, Patrick Seale, George Cotsarelis, Brian Kim, John T. Seykora, Mingyao Li, Zoltan Arany and Taku Kambayashi, 30 July 2021, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd2893
