28 Mar Adipocyte Fatty Acid storage factors enhance subcutaneous fat storage in postmenopausal women

MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Dr. Sylvia Santosa, PhD
Department of Exercise Science
Concordia University
Department of Exercise Science
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Santosa: Our results show that postmenopausal women burn less fat making more available to be stored.  Our results also suggest that greater fat storage in postmenopausal women are likely to be attributed to changes in the pathways our fat cells use to store fat.  We found that some of the proteins that help our fat cells store fat were more active and this greater activity corresponded with the amount of fat stored from our circulation.

MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Santosa: We thought that one of the main enzymes involved in breaking down fat for storage, lipoprotein lipase, would be a greater contributor to fat storage in postmenopausal women.  Our results show that though lipoprotein lipase plays a role, it’s not as big a role as we thought.

MedicalResearch.com What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Santosa: Our results indicate that female sex hormones have important effects on fat tissue storage and oxidation that likely promote fat gain after menopause.

MedicalResearch.com  What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

We hope that future research is able to build on our results by delving further into the mechanisms by which sex steriods affect how and where we store fat.

Citation:

Adipocyte Fatty Acid storage factors enhance subcutaneous fat storage in postmenopausal women.

Santosa S, Jensen MD.
Diabetes. 2013 Mar;62(3):775-82. doi: 10.2337/db12-0912. Epub 2012 Dec 3.

Last Updated on March 28, 2013 by Marie Benz MD FAAD