Genes behind why Men and Women put on Weight in Different Body Areas

The fact that women and men put on weight differently has been known for a long time. But why the fat storage is different between men and women are now closed to being revealed by researchers. The reason behind this is our genes. Fat is genetically different in men and women. ”Given the difference in gene expression profiles, a female fat tissue won’t behave anything like a male fat tissue and vice versa,” says Deborah Clegg of UT Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas, Texas. She continues, ”The notion that fat cells between males and females are alike is inconsistent with our findings.”

The researchers have used mice in the study, since mice store their fat similar to humans in a sexually dimorphic pattern. And just like humans, female mice store fat in their hips, thighs and buttocks, while male mice store their fat in the belly and midsection area. ”We found that out of about 40,000 mouse genes, only 138 are commonly found in both male and female fat cells. This was completely unexpected. We expected the exact opposite – that 138 would be different and the rest would be the same between the sexes.”

”The research being performed by Dr. Clegg and colleagues underscores the importance of understanding the differences in fat deposition in men and women,” says Viviana Simon from Society for Women’s Health Research.

But how can we make use of these findings? Simon adds ”The ability to manipulate how and where in the body fat is deposited holds the promise of helping researchers develop strategies to prevent or delay the development of chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

The findings appeared in the International Journal of Obesity, and will surely have future effect on how to prevent medical diseases as well as the huge health threat that obesity is holding.

Stress During Pregnancy may Raise Child’s Asthma Risk

A mother to be’s stress during pregnany may increase the risk of asthma in the offspring, a new research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harward Medical School in Boston shows.

In the research, differences in immune function markers in cord blood between infants born to mothers in high stress environments and those born to mothers with low stress, was investigated. The study found marked differences in patterns that may be associated with asthma risk later in life.

The findings will be published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and according to Rosalind Wright, associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “This is the first study in humans to show that increased stress experienced during pregnany in urban, largely minority women, is associated with different patterns of cord blood cytokine production to various environmental stimuli, relative to babies born to lower-stressed mothers.”

It has been known that asthma is more prevalent among ethnic minorities and among more disadvantaged urban communities, but the role of stress in asthma development has been poorly understood. To determine the transference of stress-mediated immune differences, the researchers recruited pregnant women in suburban areas with large groups of ethnic miorities and with high poverty levels. All the 557 mothers had a history of asthma in their families. The researchers did find that the patterns of cytokines (chemical messengers in the body that are involved in cell-to-cell communication) related to certain stimulant differed based on the level of stress the mothers reported.

Dr. Wright explains, “For example, while the debate continues as to whether primary sensatization to allergens begins before birth, these findings suggest the possibility that prenatal stress may enhance the young babie’s response to inhalant antigens (molecules that stimulate an immune system response) specifically those antigens that the fetus is likely to encounter more directly in utero, like dust mite.” She continues, “The current findings suggest that psychological stress is involved in programming of the infant immune response and that this influence begins during pregnancy.”

The research study will continue as the infants grow older, and will hopefully give us more insights to how the factors manifest in terms of the development of asthma and allergy in older children.

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