Researchers
Report Breakthrough in Lowering Cholesterol, Fatty Acids
A
key discovery that could lead to new drugs to treat and reverse
the effects of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease related to
obesity is reported by researchers at the University of Alberta,
in Edmonton, Canada.
They
have found a way to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol and
fatty acids that end up in the blood from food the body metabolizes.
In
a series of recently published articles, researchers report
they successfully decreased the level of LDL (low-density
lipids) - the so-called bad cholesterol - and triglycerides
in the blood of mice and hamsters by manipulating a particular
enzyme.
It's
well-known that eating too much fat and sugar and too little
exercise will make you fat, and that obesity often leads to
diabetes and heart disease. Lehner's group studied the mechanisms
behind this.
They
discovered the activity of an enzyme that releases fatty acids
from fat cells and the liver into the blood and how to inhibit
this from happening."
Drugs
called statins are used to lower LDL levels in patients, but
do not treat obesity. What makes the U of A researchers' findings
noteworthy is their discovery of how to inhibit LDL and triglycerides,
which are another form of fat in the blood and a leading risk
in obesity-related Type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease.
Simple
Organism Lives to be 800 . . .
.
. . in yeast years.
Biologists
have created a baker's yeast capable of living almost as long
as Methuselah.
Scientists
at the University of Southern California have genetically
manufactured a bakers yeast to live 800 in yeast years without
ill effects.
The
extension of the yeast's life was achieved through a combination
of dietary and genetic changes. It is a significant step towards
the survival and health of cells, the basic unit of life.
"We're
setting the foundation for reprogramming healthy life," said
study leader Valter Longo The study appeared in the the journal
PLOS Genetics and a companion study, showing a reversal of
the course of an accelerated aging syndrome in yeast, appeared
in the January 14th issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
Longo's
group put baker's yeast on a calorie-restricted diet and knocked
out two genes, RAS2 and SCH9, that promote aging in yeast
and cancer in humans.
"We
got a 10-fold life span extension that is, I think, the longest
one that has ever been achieved in any organism," Longo said.
In 2005, the same research group reported a five-fold life
span extension in the journal Cell. Normal yeast organisms
live about a week.
Such
research may play an important role in extending healthy life
span in humans through the development of drugs that mimic
the life-prolonging techniques used by Longo and others.
