Faster aging of the liver in overweight

Overweight causes premature aging of the liver

16/10/2014

Obesity leads to premature aging of liver cells, which may explain the increased risk of liver cancer in overweight people, according to a recent study by scientists from the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden and the Los Angeles-based University of California. The study results were published in the renowned specialist magazine „Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA“ (PNAS).

For the first time, the research team has succeeded according to their own information, „to compare the biological age of various tissues within the human organism“ and thus „to obtain more detailed information on the relationship between overweight and health risks of certain organs.“ Using the so-called epigenetic clock developed by biostatist Steve Horvath of the University of California, scientists determined the age of genetic information packaging in cells from different tissues, comparing the results of normal weight, overweight and obese patients.

„For the research team, it was surprising that only in liver cells is there a connection between obesity and a faster aging of the organ“, reports the University Hospital Dresden. Perhaps this is the explanation for the increased liver cancer risk of overweight and obese.

Age and obesity as risk factors of many diseases
In general, age and obesity are the most important risk factors for many diseases of civilization, according to the announcement of the University of Dresden. Therefore, the researchers have dedicated themselves to a targeted investigation of possible relationships between these two risk factors. They checked, „whether certain tissues or the body as a whole age faster in overweight people.“ The comparison of tissue aging in various organs has been made possible here by the development of the epigenetic clock, which makes it possible to draw conclusions about cell aging from the changes in the genetic material. In the study of blood, muscle, adipose tissue and also liver cells have surprisingly „premature aging only in the liver of overweight patients“ shown, reports Professor Jochen Hampe, Head of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medical Clinic I of the University of Dresden.

Fast aging of the liver irreversible
The premature aging of the liver could not be repaired even after a weight loss, the scientists write. The liver „noted“ So their age - at least in the time period studied by the researchers so far, according to the announcement of the University Hospital Dresden. To illustrate, the doctors explain that „For example, the liver in a 100-pound woman with a height of 1.65 meters about three years older than a body weight of 70 kilos“ would. According to Professor Clemens Schafmayer from the University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein, the clearly demonstrable correlation between obesity and the aging of liver cells raises a number of new questions. However, this may also explain, „why certain diseases such as liver cancer are much more common in overweight people than in lean people.“

Hope for a better understanding of aging processes
Despite the newly gained findings, the research stands „in the deeper understanding of the aging process only at the very beginning“, Professor Hampe continues. In the next step, an attempt will now be made to get to the bottom of the mechanisms of these aging processes in order to intervene therapeutically at some point. An approach that could be helpful in the future in many diseases. Until then, however, the findings initially remain only another argument to strive for a normal body weight, so Hampe. Professor Thomas Becker, Director of the Clinic for General, Visceral, Thoracic, Transplantation and Pediatric Surgery of the University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein, was altogether delighted that the „interdisciplinary research in the field of metabolic liver diseases is now bearing its first international fruits.“ The research project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for more than five years as part of the Systems Biology Initiative „The virtual liver“ and in the US, the „National Institutes of Health“ supports research with public funds. (Fp)