Explaining obesity: a biochemical first

Research could pave way for treatment

Mulchand S. Patel, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry, reported in New Orleans on April 7 that research with rat pups has shown that different tissues exhibit specific responses to hyperinsulinemia, the overproduction of insulin that occurs in obesity.

The UB model is the first to demonstrate chronic hyperinsulinemia precedes obesity. Working with rat pups born to mothers who were hyperinsulinemic and obese, the researchers have measured the effect of chronic hyperinsulinemia on key enzymes in the insulin-signaling pathway.

"Our results show that in the presence of an overproduction of insulin, obesity develops because, while the functional activity of the insulin-signal transduction pathway is decreased in liver and muscle tissue, its activity is increased in fatty tissue," said Patel. "This information provides a biochemical basis for the development of obesity and may make it possible one day to develop specific interventions for obesity."

Patel reported the results at Experimental Biology '97, the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. He conducted the work with Malathi Srinivasan and Satyaprasad Vadlamudi, postdoctoral associates in biochemistry at UB. Patel said the findings suggest the rat pups have an early metabolic setpoint, which programs them to overproduce insulin early in life and become obese later on.

For expanded coverage, go to http://www.buffalo.edu/news/Latest/PatelObesity.html