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Controlled Freezing Cold can promote cholesterol removal
According to health experts, about every third person in Germany suffers from elevated cholesterol levels. Patients are usually recommended to change their diet first. As researchers have now found out, it can also help them cold.
High cholesterol levels threaten dangerous diseases
In about every third German is the cholesterol too high. A frequent consequence of an elevated cholesterol level is arteriosclerosis. In addition, high cholesterol levels are a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. To lower cholesterol, we usually recommend a change in diet. If this is not enough, cholesterol-lowering medications are often prescribed. Scientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) now report that cold can also help.
At low temperatures, people tend to eat more and eat more fat. High-fat food also contains a lot of cholesterol. Researchers now report that cold can help in the breakdown of excess cholesterol. (Image: Halfpoint / fotolia.com) Cold should promote obesity
A few years ago, American researchers reported on a study that showed that the human intestinal flora in the north is different from that in the south.
Therefore, locals in colder regions are more prone to obesity than in warmer climes.
Cold should not only promote obesity, but indirectly also ensure that more cholesterol is absorbed.
More and more fatty food at low temperatures
After all, people have greater appetite with falling temperatures and consequently eat more and usually also higher-fat food. Thus, the body is supplied with sufficient energy, which is necessary for the maintenance of body temperature.
However, high-fat foods also contain a lot of cholesterol, which is not used by the body to generate energy and in excess can damage cells.
Scientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the Collaborative Research Center 841 "Liver Inflammation" (SFB 841) have now identified a mechanism in the liver that allows the organism to efficiently break down excess cholesterol in bile acids and thus render it harmless.
The study was published in the journal "Nature Medicine". The research results are also explained in a video interview.
Increased heat production in brown adipose tissue
"We have known for some time that low temperatures lead to increased heat production in the so-called brown adipose tissue," explained study leader Prof. Jörg Heeren, Deputy Director of the Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology of the UKE in a statement.
"Because this process requires a lot of energy, cold can be used as a therapy option to treat overweight related illnesses such as diabetes or inflammatory fatty liver disease."
According to the researchers, the researchers were able to demonstrate for the first time how activation of the brown adipose tissue stimulates the liver, increasing its cholesterol production to bile acids.
Interestingly enough, "this happens through a previously poorly characterized pathway that, in contrast to the known cholesterol degradation pathway, is not switched off via bile acids," explained the expert.
"So the body can excrete excess cholesterol in the form of bile acids, even under the influence of cold and the associated increased food intake," said Heeren.
Healthier metabolism
The activation of the brown adipose tissue leads to a healthier metabolic situation. The increasingly produced bile acids in turn increase the heat production and thus increase the energy consumption.
The bile acids also affect the composition of the bacteria in the intestine. "The influence of bile acids on the microbiome is of great interest, because we know that intestinal bacteria, for example, can influence the progress of inflammatory liver disease," said the study director.
"With the discovery of the alternative metabolic pathway in the liver and its regulation via the brown adipose tissue, we hope to be able to develop therapeutic approaches in the future, in particular for the treatment of chronic inflammatory liver diseases," said Heeren. (Ad)