Why does adipose tissue stop working in cases of abdominal obesity?  

When people develop abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes, the adipose tissue no longer responds properly to the body’s hormones. This leads to a damaging accumulation of fat in other organs. Wallenberg Academy Fellow Niklas Mejhert will make detailed studies of adipose tissue to understand what is going wrong and whether something can be done about it. 

In people with abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes, fat often accumulates in the liver, blood vessels and other organs. One reason is that the body’s adipose tissue is less responsive to the hormones – insulin, noradrenaline and special peptides – that regulate the body’s ability to store fat when there is an energy surplus and release it when energy is needed. 

To better understand how the adipose tissue works, Dr Niklas Mejhert from Karolinska Institutet, has begun to map it using methods that allow him to study individual cells. He has discovered that there are three different types of fat cells in the adipose tissue, each with a slightly different function. One type metabolizes fatty acids, while another seems to act as a kind of sensor for how much we eat and releases the satiety hormone leptin. The third type produces two specific proteins, serum amyloid A1 and -2, which are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Niklas Mejhert will now continue to study interactions between the cells in adipose tissue. How do they affect the body's ability to store and release fat? The hope is to understand what goes wrong in abdominal obesity and to find new ways of treating this endemic disease.   

Photo Patrik Lundin