In the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers examined the fat tissue of 54 men and women for 13 years. The results show that the lipids decreased over time in the participants' fat cells - and those who did not compensate for this through reduced caloric intake gained weight on average, according to the study.
"The results indicate for the first time that factors in the fatty tissue control changes in body weight during aging in a way that is independent of other factors," says Peter Arner, professor at the Department of Medicine in Huddinge and one of the study's lead authors, in a press release.
Can contribute to new treatmentsIn the study, the researchers also examined what lipid turnover looked like in 41 women who had undergone obesity surgery, and then it was discovered that only those women who had low lipid turnover before surgery managed to stick to weight loss.
The researchers now hope that the result will contribute to new treatments for obesity and obesity in the future.
- Obesity and obesity-related diseases have become a global problem. Therefore, it has never been more relevant than now to understand how lipids work and what regulates the size of fat mass in humans, says Kirsty Spalding, a researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and one of the study's lead authors, in the press release.