Low-carb diets' effects linked to rise in newly identified 'starvatio...( o fasting in mice. FGF21 in turn stimul...),Health

o fasting in mice. FGF21 in turn stimulates lipid breakdown in white adipose tissue and ketone body production in the liver. They unexpectedly also found that FGF21 led the animals to reduce their physical activity and made them more sensitive to entering torpor, a short-term, hibernation-like state.

In addition to altering their fuel sources, many small mammals conserve energy when food is scarce by undergoing periodic bouts of torpor, Kliewer explained.

"When you step back, the whole thing makes sense," he said. "During fasting, the liver hormone communicates with adipose tissue to send fat to the liver. It turns on the metabolism of fat into ketone bodiesand at the same time, it sensitizes the animals to going into torpor to conserve energy. Its clear that FGF21 is a principal component of the fasting or starvation response."

The two studies together lead to an "obvious possibility that FGF21 accounts for the proposed positive effect of the Atkins dietincluding weight loss and an increase in good cholesterol," Kliewer continued.

The degree to which the physiological effects of a ketogenic diet in humans mimic those seen in mice remains to be determined, Maratos-Flier added. She intends to examine FGF21 levels in humans after a few days on the Atkins diet, she said.

Either way, such low-carb, high-fat diets arent likely to work for everyone.

"It may be that some people are more likely to turn on FGF21 than others," Maratos-Flier said. In obese individuals, for example, high insulin levels may interfere with the liver hormone, she said.

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Contact: Erin Doonan
edoonan@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
5-Jun-2007


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