The shadow of past obesity on the current health of the individual

Judging from the results of a new mouse study, a history of obesity caused by a high-fat diet leads to changes in innate immunity that may favor the development of inflammatory diseases—changes that persist even after weight loss and recovery. return to normal metabolism.

The study authors believe that if these findings are also applicable to humans, then these epigenetic changes could contribute to the predisposition to age-related neuroinflammatory diseases associated with obesity.

Age-related macular degeneration, a neuroinflammatory disease and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in older people, has been linked to obesity. However, the mechanisms through which obesity predisposes to the disease are not well defined.

Until now, very little has been known about the long-term impact of prior obesity on the immune response later in life.

Through a series of experiments in mice, Masayuki Hata’s team, from the University of Montreal in Canada, has verified that adipose tissue macrophages from mice fed a high-fat diet show epigenetic changes that led to increased gene expression. that are activated in inflammatory responses.

This expression continued after the mice returned to normal weight and metabolic normalcy.

The study investigated the influence that having been obese exerts on certain classes of cells. (Illustration: Amazings/NCYT)

According to Hata and colleagues, these persistent epigenetic changes occurred during a period of obesity, when fatty acids such as steric acid altered resident adipose macrophages toward a proinflammatory phenotype that is retained through aging. These resident inflammatory cells can travel to other parts of the body, including the eye, where they initiate an inflammatory program that promotes age-related macular degeneration.

The study is titled “Past history of obesity triggers persistent epigenetic changes in innate immunity and neuroinflammation”. And it has been published in the academic journal Science. (Source: AAAS)