“Study Reveals High-Fat Diet Disrupts Brain’s Ability to Regulate Calorie Intake Through Astrocytes”

We know that continuing to eat a high-fat diet, such as junk food, adversely affects gut bacteria and worsens symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and anxiety. A new study found that when mice continued to eat a high-fat diet, the brain’s ability to regulate calorie intake was disrupted.

The Pennsylvania State University research team assigned rats to an experimental group that continued to eat a high-fat diet for 1, 3, 5, and 14 days, and a control group that ate a standard diet. did.

The results of the experiment showed that astrocytes, a type of glial cells present in the central nervous system, play an important role in regulating calorie intake in the brain. Astrocytes respond to the intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods and release chemicals that control the action of the stomach to control food intake. When the research team inhibited the function of astrocytes, it was reported that the ability to control calorie intake was lost.

In addition, in rats, the activity of astrocytes was maximized when they continued to eat a high-fat meal for 3 to 5 days, but when they continued to eat a high-fat diet for 10 to 14 days, they confirmed that astrocytes ceased to respond.

The research team said that calorie intake seems to be controlled by astrocytes in the short term, and that exposure to a high-fat, high-calorie meal for a short period of 3 to 5 days has the greatest effect on astrocytes, triggering normal signal transduction pathways to control them. said he had found In addition, it was revealed that around 10 to 14 days after starting to consume high-fat, high-calorie foods, astrocytes cease to respond, and the ability to control brain calorie intake seems to be lost.

In this study, it was known that astrocytes were involved in the ability to regulate calorie intake, but the mechanism of overeating and the exact interaction were not revealed. The research team said that it was not yet clear whether the loss of astrocyte activity and signal transduction mechanism was the cause of overeating or whether this phenomenon was occurring in response to overeating.

Also, since the study was conducted only on mice, further research is needed to confirm that the same applies to humans. Since obesity is a serious problem that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers, researchers expect that elucidating the complex brain mechanisms related to overeating will lead to the development of methods to reduce obesity. The research team says that the key is whether the ability to control the brain’s caloric intake can be reactivated, and intervention may be possible. Related information this placecan be found in