A team of scientists from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has found that fat cells produced by stem cells from human bone marrow may be linked to chronic illnesses.
Bone Marrow-Produced Fat Cells Linked to Chronic Illness?
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“The study’s senior author, Dwight Klemm, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in the November 24, 2015 news release, “But our paper, along with one recently published by our colleagues in Sweden, shows for the first time fat cells produced by stem cells that originate in the bone marrow inside human fat tissue.”
“Our study suggests that it may be the type of fat-storing cell produced in our bodies that determines risk for disease, rather than the amount of fat, ” said Klemm, an expert on obesity and pulmonary hypertension. “This discovery highlights the possibility of new strategies to prevent and reverse fat-related chronic diseases by controlling the production of different types of fat-storing cells.”
Researchers worked with people who had received a bone marrow transplant from another donor. A small sample of their fat tissue was removed, and the DNA from those fat cells was evaluated to determine if it came from the person who donated the bone marrow or the recipient.
“We detected the presence of donor DNA, which indicated that some of the fat cells had grown from cells that originated in the transplanted bone marrow, ” said Kathleen Gavin, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow and lead author on the study.
As indicated in the news release, Dr. Klemm believes it is possible to prevent or reverse fat-related chronic disease by controlling the type of fat-storing cells produced in the body.
Dr. Klemm added, “Even more exciting is the possibility of combining bone marrow or stem cell transplant technology with genetic engineering to tailor-make fat-storing cells with specific desirable functions. By preventing the production of harmful fat cells it may be possible to prevent or reverse fat-related chronic disease, even without weight loss.”
Dr. Klemm told OTW, “Fat cells produced from bone marrow stem cells appear to produce several inflammatory compounds that may link them to chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Over ten years ago we discovered that certain drugs that stimulate the production of new fat cells also increased the release of circulating stem cells from the bone marrow. We surmised that these circulating stem cells might be the source of some new fat cells. This was significant because it was tacitly believed for over a hundred years that all new fat cells were produced from stem cells that live in fat tissue. We essentially discovered a new source for fat cells.”
“We were surprised by the basic discovery that some new fat cells are produced from stem cells that arise from the bone marrow rather than live in fat tissue. Also, we were surprised to find that these cells have proinflammatory characteristics, which may link them to fat-related chronic disease. Importantly, our latest work confirms that these potentially harmful fat cells are produced in humans.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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