Portuguese scientists discovered how brain regulates and burns visceral fat that surrounds organs.
Based on evidence that the immune and nervous systems communicated to manage fat around the lungs, scientists have long believed that they collaborated in managing visceral fat. ScienceAlert reports that researchers couldn't communicate with the fat surrounding other organs (read: genitals), and scientists were left back at square one.
Researchers have now identified brain regions that are responsible for managing visceral fat in mice. They also identified a cellular middle man who interprets neural signals and regulates fat. This research was published in Nature journal on Wednesday. The type 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) is this middle man. These cells take instructions primarily from the hypothalamus, and then take action to regulate visceral fat.
It's almost as if the immune and neural cells don't speak the same language. The MSCs act as interpreters, Henrique VeigaFernandes, coauthor of the study and Champalimaud Center for the Unknown immunologist, stated in a press release.
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The research is too early to suggest a single trick to lose fat. ScienceAlert points out that ILC2s are still poorly understood by scientists, especially after they were overlooked for so many years.
Veiga-Fernandes stated in the release that the most difficult thing about a project such as this is being truly at the frontier.
