New findings show how people with very high levels of saturated fat in their blood could be susceptible to inflammation and tissue damage.
A study out last night shows that mice with unusually high levels of saturated fat circulating in their blood resulted in monocytes migrating into the tissues of vital organs.
Researchers from Imperial College London, England, whose findings are published in Cell Reports, are looking at whether or not the newly arrived monocytes could worsen tissue damage because they may exacerbate ongoing or underlying inflammation.
Lead researcher Dr Kevin Woollard said: “The mice we studied were treated with a drug that caused them to accumulate extremely high levels of fat in their blood. Although it is unusual, humans do sometimes have measurements approaching those levels, either from an inherited condition, or through eating fatty foods.
“Modern lifestyles seem to go hand-in-hand with high levels of fat in the blood. This fat comes from the food and drink that we consume; for example, you’d be surprised how much saturated fat a latte contains, and some people drink several through the course of the day.
“We think that maintaining a relatively high concentration of saturated fats for example by constantly snacking on cakes, biscuits, and pastries could be causing monocytes to migrate out of the blood and into surrounding tissues.”
The team, led by Dr Woollard and Professor Marina Botto from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, discovered that as the organs take in fats, most of the migrated monocytes are turned into a macrophage cell. Some the cells located within the tissues take in fat and are turned into foam cells.
These foam cells and macrophages then stimulate production of the CCL4 signalling molecule, which attracts more monocytes into the tissue.
This process continues as long as the level of saturated fat is elevated.
However, Dr Woollard said it was significant that the team discovered that the monocytes involved in this balancing act are one very specific type.
“It’s really exciting to see that the monocytes that migrate into tissues are all of one type and that means we actually may be able to develop drugs that change this behaviour,” he said.
The next stage of the research is to study groups of patients with inflammatory diseases, and to look at the direct effects of saturated foods on monocyte function, added Dr Woollard.
Cell Reports 3 September 2015
Leave a Reply