A recent study conducted by a research team led by Florian Kiefer from the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Midyne Vienna in Austria showed that cold ambient temperatures increase vitamin A levels in humans and mice, and this helps convert “bad” white adipose tissue into brown fat tissue. ” Good, which stimulates fat burning and thermogenesis.
According to the “Medical” website, this “fat shift” is usually accompanied by an increase in energy consumption, and thus is considered a promising approach to developing new treatments for obesity. The study was published in the journal Molecular Metabolism.
Humans and mammals have at least two types of fat stores, white and brown adipose tissue. During the development of obesity, the excess calories are mainly stored in white fats; in contrast, brown fat burns energy and thus generates heat.
More than 90% of body fat stores in humans are white, which are commonly found in the abdomen, lower and upper thighs. Converting white fat into brown fat may be a new treatment option to combat overweight and obesity.
A research group led by Florian Kiefer from the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Midoni Vienna, demonstrated that moderate use of cold increases levels of vitamin A and the blood transporter protein bound to retinol, in humans and mice. Most of the vitamin A reserves are stored in the liver and exposure to cold appears to stimulate a redistribution of vitamin A toward adipose tissue.
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The excess vitamin A caused by the cold led to the conversion of white fats into brown fat with a high fat burning rate.
When Kiefer and his team blocked the protein retinol bound to transporting vitamin A in mice by genetic manipulation, both the cold-induced vitamin A rise and the browning of white fat diminished: “As a result, lipid oxidation and heat production were so disturbed that the mice were no longer able to protect themselves from the cold.
In contrast, adding vitamin A to human white fat cells resulted in an expression of brown fat cell properties, with an increase in metabolic activity and energy consumption.
One of the researchers said, “Our results show that vitamin A plays an important role in adipose tissue function and affects global energy metabolism. However, this is not an argument for consuming large amounts of vitamin A supplements if they are not prescribed, because it is vitally important to have the vitamin.” (A) to the right cells at the right time “
“We discovered a new mechanism by which vitamin A regulates the burning of fats and the generation of heat in cold conditions, and this could help us develop new therapeutic interventions that exploit this specific mechanism,” he added.
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