A new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows that the blood vessels and muscles of the heart can regulate the uptake of fatty acids that we ingest through meat, milk products and other food. The researchers behind the study have also identified the way in which regulation is governed by the muscles themselves. The results, which are published in the scientific journal Nature, open the way for new forms of treatment for pathological fat accumulation in the muscles which, in turn, increases the risk of type II (adult) diabetes and cardiovascular disease. read more

"Mice that lacked either the VEGF-B protein or its receptors in the walls of the blood vessels had a lower intake of fat to the muscles and the heart, and less accumulation of fat in the different tissues," says associate professor Ulf Eriksson, who led the study at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. "Instead, we found that the residual fat accumulated in the white adipose tissue, causing a slight weight increase in the mice."
"There's a well-known correlation between fat accumulation in muscle tissue and insulin resistance and adult diabetes," says Dr Eriksson. "We are now making rigorous efforts to examine how we can affect insulin signalling and reduce the level of blood glucose in diabetic mice by blocking VEGF-B signalling."