A revolutionary gene therapy technique is presented as an original alternative for the treatment of obesity, an epidemic of the 21st century.
The key explains research published in ‘PNAS‘, lies in converting fat, the harmful omega 6 fatty acids, into the beneficial omega 3.
This, as explained by Farshid Guilak and Ruhang Tang, from the Shriners Children’s Hospital in St. Louis (US), may help children struggling with obesity reduce their risk of developing other health problems, especially arthritis.
“The main preventable risk factor for arthritis in children is being overweight,” explains Guilak.
However, he adds, the answer is simply to recommend that children lose weight, without addressing the underlying problem. «Childhood obesity is an epidemic, and as a result, arthritis is becoming increasingly common in children. We discovered that not only obesity is harmful, but also diet. The types of fatty acids that children consume play an important role in weight gain, and once obesity is reached, it opens the door to other health problems that are difficult to reverse.
The technique involves using an inactivated virus, called adeno-associated virus (AAV), to introduce the gene for a specific enzyme into cells.
The new gene therapy automatically converts omega-6 fatty acids, which are highly inflammatory, into omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for metabolic health.
Omega-6 acids, found in fatty foods and vegetable oils such as those used in fried foods, promote inflammation and can cause arthritis, heart disease and metabolic problems.
Omega-6s promote inflammation and can cause arthritis, heart disease and metabolic problems
On the other hand, omega-3s, present in fish and some nuts, promote a healthier metabolic profile, improve insulin sensitivity, promote fat metabolism and reduce inflammation and the risk of obesity-related diseases.
Natalia Harasymowicz, co-leader of the study, highlights that gene therapy also managed to reduce the number of pro-inflammatory cellsfundamental in promoting inflammation related to obesity and arthritis.
Post-traumatic arthritis
In the study, researchers focused on a type of arthritis common in children, called ‘post-traumatic arthritis,’ caused by injuries to the knee, such as tears in the meniscus.
They found that a single injection of the gene therapy significantly decreased the effects of a high-fat diet rich in omega-6 on overall metabolic health and knee arthritis.
One notable finding was that diet-induced obesity caused premature “aging” in the mice, which was prevented by the gene therapy.
«Obesity causes aging knees in young patients -Guilak assures-. The Western diet tends to be high in omega-6 and low in omega-3, which creates an imbalance, especially in children. The gene therapy we have developed automatically converts omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 in the body, transforming bad fats into good fats. “Arthritis can be a very painful and disabling disease for children, so we hope this research will help reduce the risk of its development and make treatments more effective.”
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