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5/27/04
Researchers at Edinburgh University have claimed they can predict who is susceptible to obesity.
They said their work explains how some people can consume high-fat food without putting on weight.
They have been working with mice which, like humans, are prone to becoming fat when given a rich diet.
The study discovered that some of the mice have a natural ability to deal with a "junk food" diet without suffering ill-effects.
The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by endocrinologist Dr Nik Morton.
It involved feeding mice a diet of "mouse hamburgers" to simulate the food consumed by many humans.
Fat stores
Dr Morton said: "Until now we knew little about why some of us can follow this lifestyle and stay lean and healthy, whereas others pile on the pounds.
"This research has shown one of the possible reasons why individuals have such differing responses to the intake of too much fatty food: an enzyme we express in our fat stores and liver."
Some of the mice were found to have a higher level of the enzyme (11-HSD-1) which made them more prone to becoming obese.
Other mice with lower levels of the enzyme were able to turn it off when fed with fatty food, and remained healthy.
The scientists think their findings could lead to the development of new drug treatments for those most at risk.
"Mice which are susceptible to fatty food-induced disease have a double whammy of increased levels of the enzyme on normal diets and are less able to turn it down when given high fat foods," said Dr Morton.
The Edinburgh team are now investigating the genetic mechanisms underlying the differences in enzyme activity.
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