Body fat can be defined at the time of conception, says study

A type of fat that, instead of accumulating energy, helps to burn it, the so-called brown adipose tissue (TAM) is a subject that has aroused great scientific interest, especially for its therapeutic potential in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

While scientists still seek to completely understand TAM’s fundamental biology, a recent study conducted by Japanese researchers found that this “good fat” occurs naturally in the body of people conceived during the cold season of the year.

Published in the journal Nature Metabolismthe research evaluated four separate cohorts, with a total of over 500 people. From the participants’ birth dates, the authors estimated the date of conception of each.

They then crossed these estimates with climate and metabolic data to investigate possible relationships with brown adipose tissue and other indicators such as energy, BMI and abdominal fat.

In cohort 1, consisting of 356 healthy Japanese young people, the researchers found that Those who were designed in a cold season presented a relatively higher activity of TAM in adulthood . This indicates that environmental factors influence long -term metabolism.

Testing the relationship between the month of conception and TAM in a second population

In addition to greater TAM activity, the participants of this first population analyzed revealed some characteristics indicative of better general metabolic health, such as greater energy expenditure, reduced BMI and lower visceral fat accumulation around the organs.

To broaden the scope of the study, the researchers tested a second cohort of 286 adults, including this time men and women of different age groups. The objective was to verify that the previously observed standards remained in a more diverse population.

In the second investigation, the authors confirmed “modest but significant associations” between conception during cold stations and greater activity of brown adipose tissue. Here also occurred: decreased BMI, reduced visceral fat and lower waist circumference.

According to the models developed by the team, it was the increase in TAM activity the main factor that triggered the other observed metabolic benefits.

The authors even tested the association between the seasonal period of conception and other factors, such as BMI, for example. However, only the development of brown adipose tissue showed a relationship with the time when the conception occurred .

What is the importance of discoveries about “good fat”?

For now, only a statistical relationship was identified between the conception station variables (266 days before birth) and Metabolic Parameters activity, but not necessarily a cause and effect relationship.

The authors also did not investigate deeply because the exposure of parents at a certain temperature is linked to brown fat. For them, it is possible that there is “an epigenetic path”, that is, chemical modifications of genes without changes in the sequence of DNA .

This path, already found in previous research of the same authors with mice, could extend to humans. This means that cold climate can affect the genetic expression of sperm or eggs, and these changes are then transmitted to the descendants.

For the researchers this “sophisticated predictive adaptation to cold”, from generation to generation, allows descendants to survive better in cold climates. However, more research is needed to explore this concept.

According to the study, the findings reveal consistent evidence that the end stress close to conception plays a multigenerational role, which favors the activation and maintenance of TAM, and regulates the balance between the energy that the body consumes (food) and what it spends.

In other words, the fertilization time influences the metabolic destiny of our body fat in adulthood.

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This content was originally published in body fat can be defined at the time of conception, says study on CNN Brazil.

Source: CNN Brasil