Tag Archives: longterm

New Experiment Reveals Moss Can Endure Long-Term Exposure to Space Elements

Posted on by
Reply

A group of Japanese scientists conducted experiments on the model moss species protenema (larval mosses), brood cells (specialized stem cells activated under stress), and sporophytes (protected spores). They investigated Physcomitrium patent to identify the most resilient spores under simulated space conditions, which were then sent to the external environment of the International Space Station (ISS). After nine months in space, over 80% of the spores survived and maintained their capacity to germinate. These findings highlight the potential of land plants like Physcomitrium patent to endure extreme environments when studied in space.

Physcomitrium patent spores demonstrate remarkable resilience to simulated space conditions. Image credit: Meng et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113827.

With the recent rapid changes in the global environment, exploring new avenues for the survival of life beyond Earth has become essential.

Understanding how Earth-origin organisms adapt to extreme and unfamiliar conditions, such as those found in space, is crucial for expanding human habitats on the Moon and Mars.

Researching the survival limits of organisms in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial conditions enhances our comprehension of their adaptability and prepares us for the challenges of ecosystem maintenance.

“Most living organisms, including humans, cannot endure even a brief exposure to the vacuum of space,” explains Dr. Tomomichi Fujita, a researcher at Hokkaido University.

“Yet, the moss spores maintained their vitality even after nine months of direct exposure.”

“This offers astonishing evidence that life forms evolved on Earth possess unique cellular mechanisms to withstand the challenges of space.”

In this study, Dr. Fujita and colleagues examined Physcomitrium patent, a well-studied moss commonly referred to as spread earth moss, under simulated space conditions, which included high levels of ultraviolet radiation, extreme temperature fluctuations, and vacuum settings.

They assessed three structures: Physcomitrium patent — protenema, brood cell, and sporophyte — to determine which is best suited for survival in space.

“We anticipated that the combination of space-related stressors, like vacuum, cosmic radiation, extreme temperature changes, and microgravity, would result in greater damage than any isolated stressor,” remarked Dr. Fujita.

The research revealed that UV light posed the greatest threat to survival, with sporophytes exhibiting the highest resilience among the three moss structures.

Young moss could not tolerate elevated UV levels or extreme temperatures.

Although brood cell viability was significant, the encased spores demonstrated a resistance to UV light that was 1,000 times greater.

These spores survived and germinated after enduring temperatures as low as -196 degrees Celsius for over a week and withstanding heat up to 55 degrees Celsius for a month.

The scientists proposed that the protective structures surrounding the spores may absorb UV light while physically and chemically shielding the spores inside from damage.

This resilience is likely the result of evolutionary adaptations. Moss plants, which evolved from aquatic to terrestrial species approximately 500 million years ago, have survived multiple mass extinctions.

In March 2022, the researchers sent hundreds of sporophytes aboard the Cygnus NG-17 spacecraft to the ISS.

Upon arrival, astronauts affixed the sporophyte samples to the ISS’s exterior, exposing them to space for a total of 283 days.

The spores made their return trip to Earth aboard SpaceX CRS-16, which was returned to the laboratory for analysis in January 2023.

“We had anticipated the survival rate to be nearly zero, but the results were the opposite: the majority of spores survived,” said Dr. Fujita.

“We were truly astounded by the remarkable durability of these tiny plant cells.”

Over 80% of the spores successfully completed the intergalactic journey, with nearly all of them—except for 11%—able to germinate upon returning to the lab.

The research team measured chlorophyll levels in the spores, discovering that all types exhibited normal levels, apart from a 20% reduction in chlorophyll a. Though chlorophyll a is sensitive to changes in light, this decrease did not appear to hinder the spores’ health.

“This study exemplifies the incredible resilience of life that has developed on Earth,” said Dr. Fujita.

Curious about the duration spores could survive in space, the researchers utilized pre- and post-expedition data to formulate a mathematical model.

They projected that the encased spores could endure up to 5,600 days, or around 15 years, under space conditions.

However, they emphasize that this estimate requires further validation through larger datasets to more accurately assess how long moss can thrive in space.

“Ultimately, we hope that this research paves the way for developing ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments like the Moon and Mars,” Dr. Fujita concluded.

“We desire that our moss research can serve as a foundation.”

For further details, refer to the published paper in iscience.

_____

Meng Chang Hyun et al. The extreme environmental resistance and space survivability of moss, Physcomitrium patent. iscience, published online on November 20, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113827

Source: www.sci.news

3D Printing Pioneers Safer, Long-Term Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes

Posted on by
Reply

Individuals with type 1 diabetes struggle to produce sufficient insulin for blood sugar regulation

Half Point Image/Getty Image

Researchers have developed a 3D-printed device comprising insulin-producing cells, offering potential for long-term management of type 1 diabetes by enabling patients to generate their own insulin without invasive surgery.

Type 1 diabetes patients typically lack the ability to produce enough insulin to manage their blood sugar levels, necessitating regular insulin injections and dietary precautions. A common long-term approach involves transplanting clusters of insulin-producing cells from a donor’s pancreas. However, similar to organ transplants, this method requires invasive surgical procedures.

Quentin Perrier from Wake Forest Research Institute in North Carolina explains, “Currently, the procedure involves injecting human islets into the liver through the portal vein.” Unfortunately, around half of these implanted islets lose their function quickly, necessitating multiple transplants for effective treatment.

By placing islets directly beneath the skin, not only does it minimize surgical invasiveness, but it also alleviates stress and inflammation, factors that can shorten the lifespan of the cells.

Adam Feinberg from Carnegie Mellon University and Fluidform Bio states, “The greater the density, the better the outcome. This approach will reduce the size of the devices required for implantation in patients.”

To achieve this increased density, Perrier and his team utilize 3D printing to create islands from “bioinks” composed of human pancreatic tissue and alginates, a type of carbohydrate derived from seaweed. Living insulin-producing cells are incorporated into this material.

“We combine this bioink with human islets in a syringe and print specialized motifs,” Perrier elaborates. This porous design allows for the development of new blood vessels around the structure.

In laboratory settings, this technique has proven effective, with about 90% of the cells in the islet surviving and functioning for up to three weeks. “The next step is to rigorously test this finding in vivo,” Perrier added. Their research was shared at the 2025 European Organ Transplant Association (ESOT) conference in London on June 29th.

Feinberg and his team have also undertaken the 3D printing of islets themselves. Their technique involves creating a framework akin to “3D printing within a hair gel” by printing cells and collagen directly onto a hydrogel polymer. This was showcased at the International Pancreatic and Islet Transplant Association conference in Pisa, Italy, on June 16th. In diabetic laboratory mice, these islets managed to restore normal glucose control for up to six months.

While Perrier’s findings are “undoubtedly promising,” Feinberg cautions that the inherent variability of human tissues employed in creating the islands can present challenges. “It’s akin to receiving a transplanted organ,” he notes. “The material may function exceptionally well, yet its variability poses challenges and complicates the situation.”

Both Feinberg and Perrier concur that stem cell therapy may hold the key to the future of managing type 1 diabetes. By integrating stem cells into their 3D printing process, they believe this approach could address multiple challenges associated with current cell sources.

Topics:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Long-term Studies Show That Small Particles Continue to Display Unexpected Behavior

Posted on by
Reply

Long-term conclusive results from US-based experiments have emerged. The latest release on Tuesday highlights a tiny particle behaving unexpectedly, which is still positive news for our understanding of Physics Laws.

“This experiment represents a remarkable achievement in precision,” noted Toba Holmes, an experimental physicist at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, who is not affiliated with the collaboration.

The enigmatic particles known as Muons are heavier than electrons. They exhibit a wobbling motion akin to a spinning top when subjected to a magnetic field, and scientists are scrutinizing this motion to determine its compliance with the well-established physics framework known as the standard model.

Findings from the 1960s and 1970s suggested everything was functioning as expected. However, investigations at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the late 1990s and early 2000s yielded unexpected results.

Decades later, an international coalition of scientists opted to revisit the experiment with enhanced accuracy. The team navigated Muons around magnetic, ring-shaped tracks akin to those used in the initial Brookhaven studies, and recorded the wobble signals at Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago.

The outcomes from the initial two sets published in 2021 and 2023 appear to affirm the odd behavior of Muons, encouraging theoretical physicists to reconsider the standard model alongside new metrics.

Recently, the team finalized the experiment and published Muon wobble measurements that align with their earlier findings, utilizing more than double the data collected in 2023.

Nevertheless, this does not finalize the fundamental understanding of what underpins the universe. As Muons travel along their paths, other researchers have devised methods to better harmonize standard models with observed behaviors, leveraging the power of supercomputers.

Further investigation is essential as researchers collaborate, and upcoming experiments will encourage future studies that assess Muon wobble. Scientists are also examining the latest Muon data for insights into other mysterious entities like dark matter.

“This measurement will serve as a benchmark for years to follow,” remarked Marco Incagli from the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

In their pursuit of Muons, scientists aim to unravel fundamental questions that have long intrigued physicists, as noted by Peter Winter from the Argonne National Laboratory.

“Isn’t it something we all wish to understand—how the universe operates?” Winter questioned.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Revealed Long-Term Effects of Pregnancy on Different Body Parts

Posted on by
Reply
SEI 245216256

Pregnancy has many effects on the body

Anna Still/Getty Image

As anyone who goes through it knows, pregnancy transforms the body a lot. And now we have the most detailed picture of how it affects the blood, organs and immune system each week. This not only helps to provide post-pregnancy treatment, but also helps to identify the risk of developing certain conditions during pregnancy.

“We’ve got an unprecedented view of how much it takes a mother’s body to change weekly, to make up for the incredible load and how long it takes to recover after delivery,” he says. Uriaron At the Wiseman Institute of Science, Rehobot, Israel.

Despite its importance, pregnancy has not been studied, Aron says. For example, previous studies have tracked how about 20 blood markers change, including salt and iron levels. Up to about 6 weeks for dozens of pregnant women After delivery, samples collected during standard healthcare will be used. “These experiments are usually performed in a small number of patients and sample only once at the late pregnancy or at each time point,” Aron says.

To gain a more comprehensive view, Aron and his colleagues analyzed previously collected blood samples from over 160,000 women in Israel, ages 25 to 31. Together, these samples provided weekly, weekly physical snapshots from 20 weeks of conception to 18 months after birth, with each woman providing several points of data. This approach gives useful insight into how the body generally changes during pregnancy at the population level, but says that following the same woman over time will provide a better picture of the individual trajectory. Christofree Imperial College London.

The researchers mapped changes in 76 blood markers, including levels of protein, fat and salt that show the functioning of the liver, kidneys, blood, muscle, bone and immune system. They found that each of these markers differed significantly from preconcept levels during pregnancy to gradually return to preconceived levels or reverse overshooting before returning to preconceived baseline.

In particular, scientists found that 36 markers, including those associated with blood clotting, bounced off within a month of delivery, but 31 markers took more than 10 weeks to recover. For example, some changes to the liver and immune system took about 5 months to return to prepregnancy levels, and some kidney markers took about six months. Some bone and muscle markers took even longer. It is unclear what exactly this means for women’s health, but it should be investigated in future work, Aron says.

Additionally, several other markers did not return to baseline levels for more than one year after birth. “The slightly archaic view that by six or eight weeks after pregnancy, everyone is completely back to normal is clearly wrong,” says Leeds.

For example, iron levels remained much lower after giving birth. “Women are very likely to have anemia [have low iron levels] I think it will take 6-12 months for the iron shop to return to normal after giving birth due to bleeding, and as the developing fetus removes many iron stores from the body.

Meanwhile, levels of proteins called CRP remained high. “CRP is affected by many different processes. Inflammation is certainly one of them, but things like hormonal changes can also affect this,” says Lees. In another analysis, the team examined differences in markers between women with prelammosis. This saw people who are pregnant and not with hypertension, where high blood pressure can cause headaches, vision problems and pain under the ribs. This revealed that women who developed pre-lamp syndrome before conception had increased levels of blood cell fragments called platelets and proteins called ALT.

“For decades, the idea was that if the placenta wasn’t properly planted and not properly planted, the blood supply would be destroyed and the mother would release the hormones and substances that would help her blood pressure,” says Leeds. “However, some studies suggest that those who developed it have different cardiovascular functions before pregnancy. These findings add weight to this theory.”

If further studies have shown that these conceptual markers actually indicate the risk of pre-lammosis, they could be used to identify potentially high-risk women. “Then you can target ways to improve your health before pregnancy (through exercise and lifestyle advice) and reduce your risk,” says Leeds.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Potential long-term consequences of measles: immune system memory loss and encephalitis

Posted on by
Reply

Measles is not just a rash and fever.

The outbreak of the disease in West Texas has sent 29 people, most of them, to hospitals, as they continue to grow. Two people have died, including a six-year-old child.

It remains to be seen how many people have become ill in the outbreak. There have been at least 223 confirmed cases, but experts believe hundreds more people may have been infected since late January. As public health officials try to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus, some experts are worried about long-term complications.

Measles is different from other childhood viruses that come and go. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in 1,000 patients develop encephalitis or encephalitis or encephalitis, with one or two deaths in 1,000 people.

This virus can wipe out the immune system, a complication known as “immune amnesia.”

When you get sick with a virus or bacteria, the immune system has the ability to form memories that can quickly recognize and respond to pathogens if they are encountered again.

Measles targets cells in the body, such as plasma cells and memory cells, and contains their immunological memory, and destroys some of them in the process.

“No one can escape this,” said Dr. Michael Mina, a vaccine expert and a former professor of epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

In a 2019 survey, Mina and his team discovered that measles infections can be wrecked from anywhere 11% to 73% of human antibody stockpiledepends on how serious the infection is. This means that if people had 100 antibodies to Chicken Pox before they developed measles, they would be left at just 50 after measles infection, potentially catching them and getting sick.

Iwasakimon, professor of immunology at Yale University School of Medicine, said: You forget who the enemy is. ”

Virtually everyone who contracts measles weakens the immune system, but some are hit harder than others.

“There's no world where you get measles and it won't destroy some [immunity]He said. “The problem is that it will destroy enough to have clinical impact.”

In a previous study in 2015, Mina presumed that the virus was a virus before vaccination, when measles was common It may be related to half of childhood deaths due to infectionmainly from other diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, diarrheal diseases, meningitis.

Researchers found that after measles infection, the immune system was suppressed almost immediately and remained intact for two to three years.

“Immune amnesia begins as soon as the virus replicates in them [memory] Cells,” Mina said.

The best protection against serious complications is the measles vaccine. Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective in preventing infection.

What is “immune amnesia”?

Our bodies are constantly exposed to a variety of bacteria and viruses in our environment. Over time, our immune system learns to remember a particular intruder and can take action immediately if we find something that doesn't belong to our body.

“Children are in contact with all sorts of microorganisms, and most of those encounters have not led to illness,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, pediatrician and director of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at NYU Langone Health. “Children often recover and have memories, so if they see the same strain of the virus that causes diarrhea, they will be the second disease they are exposed to.”

With immune amnesia, he said that if people are exposed to strains of the same virus again, their bodies will act as if it was the first time they had it and they don&#39t have that robust protection.

This means that the measles virus can destroy the immunity that people have accumulated over time, such as pneumonia, colds, flu, bacteria, and more that can cause other pathogens.

Mina elicited a comparison with HIV, saying that the level of immunosuppression in severe measles infection can be compared to HIV that has not been treated for years. However, he warned that HIV affects various parts of the immune system, and that people&#39s immune systems can ultimately recover from measles.

How does measles destroy the immune system?

Highly contagious viruses can destroy long-lived plasma cells that are present in the bone marrow and are essential to the immune system. Cells are like factories that expel antibodies to protect us from intruders entering our bodies.

“It&#39s almost like bombing a sacred city,” Mina said.

Measles also targets cells in our body, called memory cells. This is a cell that remembers what intruders look like, allowing the immune system to quickly identify and fight them in the future.

When you breathe a virus, it is enveloped in cells called macrophages. Macrophages function as “trojan horses” to collect viruses in lymph nodes, Iwasaki said.

Once there, the virus can bind and destroy these memory cells, wiping away some of our built-in immunity in the process.

“one time [memory cells] As it is excluded, we basically no longer have any memory of those specific pathogens, so we are more susceptible to most infectious diseases that are unrelated to measles,” Iwasaki said.

Will the immune system recover?

The way your body begins to regain immune memory after being surrounded by measles is to be exposed to other viruses and bacteria, get sick again, and boost your immune system.

Such immunity can be relearned, but University of Pennsylvania immunologist John Welley says that while such immunity can be relearned, he is particularly susceptible to other infectious diseases.

“As every parent of a daycare child knows, if you&#39’re building a lot of immunity at the time, you’re suffering through it,” Welley said.

Mina relearned our immunity and compared it to why babies seem to get sick frequently.

“The illness a baby gets is not because the baby is more vulnerable, because they don&#39t have the same immunological memory set yet,” he said. “They have to spend several years accumulating it through exposure, which is kind of what people experience after measles.”

How Measles Causes Brain Inflammation

What&#39s even more frightening is an untreated measles complication called subacute sclerosing pan encephalitis (SSPE), a brain disease that can occur for more than a decade, which is fatal after someone recovers from an infection.

For poorly understood reasons, the measles virus can cause persistent infections and lead to brain damage, leading to cognitive decline, coma, and death.

Researchers believe that SSPE was once considered rare, but is more common than realization. a Review of measles cases in California From 1998 to 2015, SSPE cases were found to occur at a higher rate than expected among children who were not vaccinated.

Dr. Bessie Gibberge, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Northwest Medicine, said the disease is progressive and symptoms occur at normal stages.

“It can start with just a change in personality and a change in behavior,” she said. In children, it can be as subtle as worse performance in school.

The disease then progresses and can eventually lead to seizures and abnormal movements, Siebarghese said. Finally, parts of the brain that regulate vital signs such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure can be damaged and can lead to death.

There is no cure for this disease and is almost always fatal. Patients usually survive 1-3 years after diagnosis. In the US, there are usually four to five cases each year, which can be underestimated, says Ratner of Nyu Langone Health.

“It’s probably more common than we think because it’s not always diagnosed,” he said. “But as these outbreaks become more common, I think we will clearly see more cases of SSPE.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Significance of Skin Care for Long-Term Wellness

Posted on by
Reply

The skin is undoubtedly the body's largest organ. Depending on your height and weight, Covers an area of ​​about 1.5-2 square meters They weigh between 3.5 and 10 kilograms, which is about 15 percent of their total body weight.

Think of it as a kind of intellectual armor. It helps us sense the world around us, protects our internal organs, and protects us from pathogens. This is reason enough to take good care of it, especially for the following reasons: premature skin aging Your ability to perform all of these functions may be reduced and your risk of infection may increase. But new research suggests the effects on skin health may be even more profound.

To understand why, we need to examine its structure. The skin is made up of three layers. The outer waterproof epidermis is constantly regenerated. The dermis underneath is filled with collagen and elastin fibers. And underneath, the subcutaneous tissue, or subcutaneous tissue, is made of fat and connective tissue and is filled with cavities that help cushion the rest of the body from impact. Damage to these layers can cause skin cells to excrete inflammatory proteins. In the short term, this may increase blood flow to the injury site and speed healing. However, if high levels of inflammation are maintained over a long period of time, those chemicals can accumulate and spread to other organs with the help of the vast network of blood vessels within the dermis, causing organ damage. .

accelerated aging

Aging can accelerate this process. As we age, our skin loses collagen, water, and fat and becomes more fragile. To make matters worse, many skin cells enter a state called senescence, where their production of inflammatory chemicals increases. This potentially toxic cocktail appears to amplify the risk of age-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and dementia. Although there is no conclusive evidence for this hypothesis yet, various evidences Now we support it. For example, animal studies have shown that skin damage can cause widespread inflammation. Meanwhile, researchers at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Does someone's face look older or younger than their actual age? It was associated not only with general cognitive function, but also with an overall risk of developing cataracts, osteoporosis, hearing loss, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the future, “aging therapy” drugs may be developed that remove aging cells, including those in the skin, or block the release of inflammatory proteins. these are Still in developmentbut progress is promising. On the other hand, there are many lifestyle changes that can help all of us take care of this important and fascinating organ. Read on to learn more.

Explore the key questions about skincare in our latest special series.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Long-term cognitive decline found in severe COVID-19 patients years post-illness

Posted on by
Reply

COVID-19 could have lasting effects on our mental and physical health

Alexander Davidov / Alamy

There is evidence that people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic still have lower than expected cognitive abilities several years later, forcing them to change jobs.

“What we found is that the average cognitive impairment is equivalent to 10 IQ points, based on what you would expect given age etc.” Maxim Take At Oxford University.

His team looked at 475 British people who had been admitted to and discharged from hospital with COVID-19 up to March 31, 2021.. All of the participants had undergone psychiatric and cognitive evaluations six months after they were discharged, as part of a separate study. Take's team asked them to be reassessed two to three years later and found that, on average, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue had worsened. “More people get worse than they get better,” Take says.

Overall, those suffering from moderate to severe depression increased from 34% at six months to 47% at the second assessment, and those suffering from moderate to severe fatigue increased from 26% at the first test to 40%. Smaller changes were seen in the proportion of those suffering from moderate to severe anxiety, increasing from 23% to 27%.

It's not clear why so many people's symptoms worsened, but the team found that people whose symptoms were more severe in the initial tests tended to get worse over time. One participant said he'd had shortness of breath for three years and it was hard for him not to fall into depression, Take said.

The team also found that more than a quarter of participants changed jobs after hospitalization, half of whom said they did so because of poor health. The researchers found a strong association between changing jobs and declining cognitive function, but not with depression, anxiety, or fatigue. This suggests that many people are changing jobs because they can no longer cope with the cognitive demands of their previous jobs, rather than for a lack of energy or interest, Take says.

He acknowledges that the study has some major limitations: Only a fifth of those invited to take part actually did so, so it's not clear how representative the study is, and because participants weren't tested before being admitted to hospital, there's no baseline to compare it to, team members say. Paul Harrison also conducted at Oxford University. Instead, the conclusion that people lost 10 IQ points on average was based on what would be expected for people of the same age, sex and education level, British Intelligence Test.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

NASA’s long-term plan to decommission the International Space Station

Posted on by
Reply

The International Space Station (ISS) has been operational since 2000 and is continuously manned by astronauts, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.

Throughout its operation, the ISS has served as a hub for scientific experiments, space travel research, and international cooperation. Over 280 astronauts from more than 23 countries have visited the space station.

However, as the decade nears its end, the ISS is reaching the end of its functional lifespan, prompting the need to address its future once it’s no longer in use.

Abandoning the craft is not an option due to its size and potential risk to other satellites in orbit. NASA has explored various options, including pushing the ISS higher, but ultimately determined that salvaging parts for historical preservation or technical analysis would be too complex and costly.

Therefore, the only viable solution is to deorbit the ISS. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has been awarded an $843 million contract by NASA to develop and deliver a deorbit vehicle for the ISS.

Plans are still being finalized, but the general idea is for the deorbit vehicle to guide the ISS into the atmosphere, where most of it will burn up upon re-entry. Careful considerations will be made to ensure any remaining parts land in uninhabited areas.

With the ISS’s days numbered, the future of space habitation is shifting towards private sector initiatives, such as NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development program and the Lunar Gateway project.

Despite the end of the ISS era, experts like Dr. Darren Baskill emphasize the station’s contributions to science, exploration, and international collaboration, paving the way for future advancements in space.

About our experts

Darren Baskill is an Outreach Officer and Lecturer at the University of Sussex, with a background in astronomy and science outreach.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Study uncovers long-term health hazards

Posted on by
Reply

New research reveals significant metabolic and health risks associated with long-term coconut oil supplementation, including hormonal changes, weight gain, and inflammation. Lead researcher Marcio Alberto Torsoni advises against consuming coconut oil blindly and recommends a moderate amount according to dietary guidelines.

Scientists at the State University of Campinas observed changes in eating patterns, weight gain, signs of anxiety, and increased inflammation in the brain, adipose tissue, and liver in mice.

Article published in Functional food journal We report on a research study in which oral administration of extra virgin coconut oil supplements to mice showed significant changes in eating habits, weight gain, anxiety levels, and inflammation in the central nervous system, adipose tissue, and liver.

Researchers also discovered that leptin, an important metabolic hormone, insulin The ability to activate cellular mechanisms involved in satiety and blood sugar control may be impaired, and biochemical mechanisms involved in fat synthesis may be stimulated.

Researcher insights

Marcio Alberto Torsoni, a researcher at the Institute of Metabolic Disorders, said: “The results of this study suggest that although the process occurs slowly and quietly, long-term coconut oil supplementation contributes to the development of obesity and related comorbidities. “This suggests that it may cause significant metabolic changes.” LabDiMe) is conducted at the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the State University of Campinas (FCA-UNICAMP), São Paulo State, Brazil. He holds a PhD in Functional and Molecular Biology and completed postdoctoral studies at the UNICAMP Faculty of Medicine and the University of Michigan, USA.

LabDiMe is part of the Obesity and Comorbidity Research Center (OCRC), one of FAPESP’s Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs), and the Center for Metabolic Programming and Perinatal Management (MPPM), which receives funding from the U.S. We are collaborating with National Institutes of Health (NIH (National Institutes of Health).

Animal fat and coconut oil risks

Excessive intake of animal fats is associated with an increased risk of: cardiovascular disease, as well as obesity and diabetes. One of the components of this diet is cholesterol, but this type of fat also contains saturated fatty acids, which can activate inflammatory processes through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) and cause disease. there is.

Saturated fatty acids are also available from other sources, such as plants. For example, it makes up 90% of the fat in coconut oil. Although short-chain fatty acids make up the majority and are beneficial as they reduce inflammation, the saturated fatty acids found in coconut oil are sufficient to activate inflammatory pathways and damage many different types of cells.

“Consumption of coconut oil, either as part of the regular diet or as a dietary supplement, has increased significantly in the population,” Torsoni says. The problem is that most of the time it is consumed without the guidance of a nutritionist who can adjust the daily intake according to the individual’s needs.

experimental model

To find out whether daily consumption of coconut oil over long periods of time could cause health problems, the research group used an animal model involving healthy mice that were given coconut oil daily for eight weeks. did. This amount of coconut oil is equivalent to about 1 soup spoon (13g) of calories per day, or 5% of the calories from saturated fat in the diet of an adult of appropriate weight for his or her age and height.

Torsoni said coconut oil should be used in small amounts as part of seasonings and sauces, preferably with fresh or minimally processed vegetables. This is also the advice of the Ministry of Health’s Dietary Guidelines for Brazilian Citizens, which also recommends “an appropriate and healthy diet that combines quantity and quality and meets the needs of variety, balance, moderation and enjoyment.” I am.

“Coconut oil is not recommended as a supplement to treat disease or restore health,” Torsoni says.

Reference: “CO 2 supplementation induces lipogenesis in adipose tissue, leptin and insulin resistance in healthy Swiss mice” Alana Carolina Costa Veras, Larissa da Silva Bruzasco, Ana Beatriz Profiro Lopes, Beatriz da Silva Franco, Written by Alessandro Spencer de Souza Holanda, Andrea Maculano Estevez, Marcian Milanski, Adriana Souza Torsoni, Leticia Martins Ignacio-Sousa, Marcio Alberto Torsoni, June 4, 2023. Functional food journal.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2023.105600

This study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation.

Source: scitechdaily.com