StemCell Therapy

Do you love your tall, meat and cheeseburger? You may want to think again before grabbing your next greasy treat. According to a latest study, a meal packed with a lot of fat and grease may silence the communication between the intestine and the rest of your body.

The researchers used fish to examine the cells that signal and tell the brain and the rest of the body what's going on inside the gut after a meal. The team discovered that a high-fat meal completely shuts down that communication for a few hours. The study published in 'eLife'.

The scientists were looking at the enteroendocrine cells, which occur sparsely throughout the lining of the gut. They happen to play a key role in signalling the body about the all-important alimentary canal. These cells, also have a recently-discovered direct connection to the nervous system and the brain. They produce up to at least 15 different hormones to send signals to the rest of the body about gut movement, feelings of fullness, digestion, nutrient absorption, insulin sensitivity, and energy storage. Hence their communication with rest of the body is imperative.

"But they fall asleep on the job for a few hours after a high-fat meal, and we don't yet know if that's good or bad," said John Rawls, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine.

Since enteroendocrine cells are key players indigestion, the feeling of being full and subsequent feeding behaviour, this silencing may be a mechanism that somehow causes people eating a high-fat diet to eat even more.

"This is a previously unappreciated part of the postprandial (after-meal) cycle," Rawls said.

"If this happens every time we eat an unhealthy, high-fat meal, it might cause a change in insulin signalling, which could, in turn, contribute to the development of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes."

To understand the silencing better, the researchers tried to break the process down step by step in zebra-fish, reports the study published in 'eLife'.

Once they sense a meal, these cells trigger a calcium burst within seconds, initiating the signalling process.

However after the initial signal, there's a delayed effect later in the after-meal period. The scientists said that it's during this later response that the silencing takes place.

The silenced cells have to potential change shape and experience stress in their endoplasmic reticulum. These enteroendocrine cells tend to become overstimulated and exhausted for a while, which hinders the action.

(This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.)

Read this article:
Greasy Meals May Intervene Gut Action And Hinder Intestinal Activity - NDTV Food

This entry was posted on December 23, 2019 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Molecular Genetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |