Hong Kong University researchers identified how obesity damages skeletal muscles and found its remedy
Sep 23, 2024Summary: Obesity causes the weakening of bones and skeletal muscles. One of the ways it damages the musculoskeletal system is through increased mechanical stress. However, science shows that obesity also impairs the musculoskeletal system in other ways, like increased production of adipokines and inflammation. Now, science has discovered yet another way in which obesity may make skeletal muscles weaker. Studies show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for maintaining neuroplasticity, also plays a vital role in maintaining skeletal muscles. It appears that obesity has a knockout effect on BDNF, reducing its levels in skeletal muscles, making them weaker, and increasing fat accumulation in skeletal muscles. They have also identified a natural remedy to prevent this damage, a flavonoid present in a plant called Godmania aesculifolia.
The majority of people living in the US are either overweight or obese. Obesity is rising globally as poverty declines and lifestyle changes.
For a long, doctors visualized obesity as a risk factor for various diseases like cardiovascular disorders, joint diseases, etc. That is true to a degree. However, an approach towards obesity is changing slowly, as researchers realize its much broader ill-effects. Many medical associations now see it as a chronic disease that must be treated, not just a risk factor1.
This shift in how the medical world visualizes obesity is not sudden rather a result of years of medical research showing that obesity has much graver health consequences.
Moreover, the medical world is alarmed at the rate at which obesity has increased. The number of obese people has tripled since 1975. WHO statistics show that 39% of the adult population is overweight globally2. Thus, obesity is becoming a global health threat.
Adipose tissues are not just energy stores
For long, science visualized adipose tissues merely as stores of excess energy. However, now science has shown that adipocytes have many other functions. It may be right to see adipose tissues even as an endocrinological organ, as they produce many hormones regulating inflammation, appetite, energy expenditure3.
What is worrying is that obesity results in increased chronic inflammation. Adipose tissues produce inflammatory mediators like IL-6 and TNF-alpha. As a result, they increase oxidative stress and cause metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, coagulopathies, insulin resistance, and much more4.
Researchers identified how obesity damages the musculoskeletal system and identified its remedy
Researchers have long known that obesity weakens muscles, bones, and joints. However, they have a poor understanding of the underlying mechanism.
Joint disease caused by obesity due to mechanical stress is relatively simple to understand. However, knowing why obesity causes the weakening of muscles and insulin resistance is challenging.
A study published in the journal Autophagy found some new and exciting facts. In recent years, researchers have found that a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for the growth of brain cells, is equally vital for skeletal muscle growth. Thus, BDNF is also present in muscles5.
BDNF plays a vital role in promoting myokine production in skeletal muscles.
However, it appears that obesity inhibits the production of BDNF in muscles, something that researchers call ‘MBKO‘ (Muscle-specific BDNF Knockout). MBKO ultimately results in more weight gain and the development of insulin resistance.
When skeletal muscles are affected by MBKO (thus low BDNF expression), they cannot recycle vital biochemicals, resulting in mitochondrial damage. This results in a greater accumulation of lipids in muscles, thus weakening them and causing insulin resistance.
What’s more, researchers could also identify a compound that can boost BDNF and prevent MBKO, hence preventing the weakening of skeletal muscles. This compound called 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) is known to science, as it has already been testing it for its role in preventing Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.
This is a natural compound in abundance in the leaves of Godmania aesculifolia, a plant native to the tropical regions of the Americas.
Thus, 7,8-DHF could be one of the remedies for obesity and its associated health conditions. It may help prevent the weakening of skeletal muscles. It may also have a role in preventing other metabolic disorders associated with obesity.
References
- Why Is Obesity a Disease? - Obesity Medicine Association. Accessed February 12, 2022. https://obesitymedicine.org/why-is-obesity-a-disease/
- Obesity and overweight. Accessed February 12, 2022. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
- Kershaw EE, Flier JS. Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004;89(6):2548-2556. doi:10.1210/jc.2004-0395
- Ellulu MS, Patimah I, Khaza’ai H, Rahmat A, Abed Y. Obesity and inflammation: the linking mechanism and the complications. Arch Med Sci. 2017;13(4):851-863. doi:10.5114/aoms.2016.58928
- Ahuja P, Ng CF, Pang BPS, et al. Muscle-generated BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor) maintains mitochondrial quality control in female mice. Autophagy. 2021;0(0):1-18. doi:10.1080/15548627.2021.1985257
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