Introduction Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

The combination of long-term consumption of excess food and absence of exercise, which is very common today, seriously impairs the energy balance in our organism.

The excess energy is stored predominantly in the form of lipids in the adipose tissue. Simultaneously, there is an increase in the lipid level in other tissues and also in the blood. Therefore, obesity is usually connected with a complex of other health disorders referred to as metabolic syndrome. Some of these diseases are studied at our institute in detail (e.g. hypertension, arteriosclerosis, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes).

While searching for a treatment for obesity, we pay attention to the white adipose tissue and the possibility to stimulate the break-down of lipids in this tissue. We study especially the effect of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA) that are contained in fish oil. Understanding of how these fatty acids affect our metabolism could improve their use for prevention and treatment of obesity.

Obese mice serve us as an experimental model for studying obesity. Computer tomography for small animals (μCT) enables us to compare fat depots of slim and obese mice (fat – red, bones – yellow).