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Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

(www.nature.com)
263 points paulpauper | 3 comments | 14 Apr 25 04:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.21s | source
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meindnoch ◴[17 Apr 25 12:45 UTC] No.43716014[source]▶
Well, yeah. Adipocytes multiply when you get fat. But when you lose weight, they don't apoptose, they just shrink in volume by giving up their lipid stores.
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mkoubaa ◴[17 Apr 25 13:11 UTC] No.43716298[source]▶
I am pretty sure the only way to reduce the number of cells is liposuction
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rcruzeiro ◴[17 Apr 25 13:18 UTC] No.43716396[source]▶
Worse than that. Subcutaneous fat (which is the one you can trim off with liposuction) usually expands relying more in cell expansion and not in hyperplasia. Visceral fat on the other hand, is way more likely to involve hyperplasia and you cannot use liposuction against this type of fat. This is also the fat that is very hormonally active and increases the risks of diabetes, heart disease, cancers, strokes.
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1. gosub100 ◴[17 Apr 25 13:56 UTC] No.43716929[source]▶
Is it unremovable because it's inside the core muscles and near internal organs?
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2. nradov ◴[17 Apr 25 14:15 UTC] No.43717185[source]▶
Right. A surgeon can't just stick a liposuction tube into the abdominal cavity and poke around. This would be major invasive surgery with a high risk of complications, far worse than leaving the adipose tissue in place.
3. meindnoch ◴[17 Apr 25 14:31 UTC] No.43717426[source]▶
See the second half of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bav_IBsuXEM

Visceral fat is literally enclosing the intestines, major blood vessels, organs, etc. of the abdomen.

Nevertheless, it is possible to surgically remove this sheet of fat that's covering your organs, it's called an omentectomy. But it's a big surgery, and done only in case of cancer, not for weight loss. That is, in humans: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29367725/