Diabetes risk due to adipose tissue change

Fat children: Diabetes risk due to adipose tissue change

03/12/2014

Overweight children have pathological changes in adipose tissue at an early age. Leipzig researchers have shown that such adipose tissue changes in children are associated with insulin resistance.

The scientists examined adipose tissue of lean and overweight children up to 18 years for signs of pathological changes. Already in six-year-olds with overweight showed significant changes, which point to an unhealthy development. For example, obese children and adolescents have almost twice as many and significantly larger fat cells than slim ones. With increasing fat mass and size of fat cells in overweight children, macrophages migrate into adipose tissue. The researchers see their increased presence as evidence of an ongoing inflammatory reaction in the adipose tissue of overweight children and teenagers.

In addition, the formation of messengers is altered from the fat cells. These include the adipose tissue hormones leptin and adiponectin, which affect, for example, the feeling of hunger and metabolism. Altered levels of these hormones in the blood can be observed in overweight already in the young study participants. They are considered as signals for a pathological change in the metabolism. The altered dysfunctional adipose tissue contributes to the development of the first sequelae of obesity in childhood. (Pm)

Image: Dieter Schütz