Search is Powered by Google
Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News

Sex Steroids, Sugar And Metabolic Disease

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Diabetes;  Genetics
Article Date: 10 Nov 2007 - 5:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:3 stars

3 (1 votes)

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Overweight children and adults have low levels in their blood of a protein known as SHGB, which transports sex steroids and regulates their entry into tissues. Low levels of SHGB are a marker of the metabolic syndrome, a combination of medical disorders that increase an individual's risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. An explanation as to why low levels of SHGB are such a good marker of the metabolic syndrome are now provided by Geoffrey Hammond and colleagues at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

In the study, exposure to glucose and fructose (monomeric sugar building blocks of carbohydrates) reduced the production of SHGB in vitro by a human liver cell line and in vivo by the liver of mice engineered to express human SHGB. Decreased production of SHGB was mediated by decreased expression of a protein that stimulates the gene that makes SHGB (HNF-4-alpha) and was associated with increased amounts of the fat palmitate in the liver cells. Importantly, glucose- and fructose-induced decreases in SHGB production were prevented by inhibiting palmitate generation. These data provide a mechanistic link between excess sugar and carbohydrate consumption and decreased levels of SHGB, indicating the reason it is a good marker of the metabolic syndrome.

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

TITLE: Monosaccharide-induced lipogenesis regulates the human hepatic sex hormone-binding globulin gene

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Geoffrey L. Hammond
Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Source: Karen Honey
Journal of Clinical Investigation




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Opioid Induced Constipation ADHD Anxiety Asthma Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles All 'How To...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
Is White Tea The Solution To The Obesity Epidemic?
01 May 2009
Possible anti-obesity effects of white tea have been demonstrated in a series of experiments on human fat cells (adipocytes). Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism have shown...


Exercise Leg Cramp image Exercise Leg Cramp

Leg Cramps...

Upside Down Apple Pie image Upside Down Apple Pie

Dessert is ready with this pie recipe. Trim the fat content found in a traditional apple pie by using this version's special crust...

View more videos...