In a new study, scientists from Indiana University School of Medicine have figured out how to prevent
It is believed that depending on the type of cancer and whetherhow well the patient responds to treatment, cachexia affects up to 80% of people in the advanced stage of the disease. In addition, cachexia is thought to be responsible for 30% of cancer deaths. For example, a patient dies of heart or respiratory failure caused by muscle loss.
Potentially fatal condition associated withconversion of white fat cells, which store calories, into brown ones - they burn fat and generate heat. The researchers wondered how the elimination of irisin affected the effects of cachexia in mice with tumors. It is known that this hormone turns white adipose tissue into brown.
In a new study, scientists usedmice with damaged versions of the FNDC5 gene (fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5). These genetically modified mice could not produce a calorie-burning hormone. Biologists injected mice with cells that cause Lewis lung carcinoma or MC38 metastatic colorectal cancer.
It turned out that in male mice with damagedgenome developed both diseases, but not cancer cachexia. They retained normal body weight, in contrast to mice with the same tumor mass. In the future, drug therapy based on this discovery will reduce cancer deaths by a third.
Notably, the absence of FNDC5/irisinprevented the development of muscle weakness in male mice - they retained normal general motor activity. However, in female mice, the absence of irisin showed no noticeable protective effects.
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