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VA RESEARCH: EAT FAT, STAY THIN? WITH
ALTERED GENES,
MAYBE -- "For aging veterans, and for baby
boomers, geriatric
research is thought to provide the biggest public
benefit."
|
Dr. LeBris “Lee” Quinn
has been leading a team researching ways to use genetics
to maintain muscle and avoid gaining fat in mice. It may
prove important for humans as well. This is her
laboratory at the VA Hospital on American Lake. In the
foreground is senior scientist Barbara Anderson. (photo:
PETER HALEY / THE NEWS TRIBUNE) |
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-------------------------
Protein lets mice eat fat,
stay thin
PETER HALEY
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Black mouse 2330tgm gorged himself on a high-fat, “Supersize Me” diet of
mouse chow for 20 straight weeks.
He liked it so much that flying mouse chow dust coated his whiskers and
fur.
But 2330tgm had a man-made twist in his genes that kept him lean. Or at
least leaner than his brothers, who – with normal, unaltered mouse genes –
ate the same diet.
The twist? Higher levels of interleukin-15. Known in the biomedical field
as IL-15, the protein molecule is naturally secreted in minute amounts
into the bloodstream by the muscles of mice – and humans.
The study, conducted in the laboratory at the Veterans Administration
Hospital at American Lake in Lakewood, marks a notable biomedical
discovery with potential commercial and health benefits for:
• Controlling human obesity.
• Restoring muscle strength in frail senior citizens.
• Breeding cattle and pigs for leaner cuts of meat.
And you can bet your flabby abs that once IL-15 makes its anticipated
debut in pill form in a few years after more animal and human studies, the
bodybuilding industry will latch onto it like a mouse on cheese.
“Everything we do in the field gets picked up by the bodybuilders,” said
Dr. LeBris “Lee” Quinn, the University of Washington School of Medicine
researcher who led the four-year IL-15 study.
But the funders of the study – the Veterans Administration and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service – foresee greater benefits.
Maybe you’ve heard about a not-so-little-thing called the obesity epidemic
in America? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest
report categorizes 33.3 percent of adult men as obese, 35.3 percent of
women and 16.3 percent of children aged 2 to 19.
click for more information -- a disabled veteran
owned business
Tagging along with obesity comes a host of unwelcome associates – some
cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cartilage
degeneration, sleep apnea.
Quinn believes IL-15 can help, eventually.
For her study, her team created artificial genes designed to secrete
higher amounts of IL-15, injected the genes into fertilized mouse eggs,
then implanted the eggs in female mice. DNA tests separated each litter
into those with normal genes and those with the enhanced IL-15 genes.
Then the eating began. The study included healthy diets, normal diets and
diets that Quinn equated with “the typical American fast food diet.”
The results? Male IL-15 mice stayed leaner but didn’t add muscle. Female
IL-15 mice added more muscle but didn’t stay as lean.
 While
IL-15 promises to help us fight the battles of our bulges, the VA sees the
potential for IL-15 to improve the welfare of and care for veterans.
“For aging veterans – and for baby boomers,” Quinn said, “geriatric
research is thought to provide the biggest public benefit.”
Imagine a frail senior citizen who falls and breaks a hip. For some, it
means a downward death spiral as the full body of muscles atrophy while
the hip heals. But with IL-15, the theory goes, the muscles could regain
strength to help in the recovery, Quinn said.
So far, Quinn said, the research indicates that IL-15, when given to a
mouse in distress – like an injured senior citizen – noticeably increases
muscle strength.
Her team already has started on its next study to determine if maintaining
youthful levels of IL-15 in mice, as they age, will keep them healthier.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department has an interest in IL-15’s potential
to decrease the fat in cattle and pigs. So when those leaner meat cuts
enter the food supply, they won’t fatten us up as much.
In 2025, perhaps, when you sit your trim self down for a nice Angus beef,
24-ounce Porterhouse at El Gaucho, you’ll know you can enjoy it guilt- and
fat-free thanks in part to Quinn, her research team and black mouse
2330tgm.
Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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