(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)<\/p>\n
By Nancy Lapid<\/p>\n
April 15 (Reuters) – GLP-1 drugs have direct beneficial effects on the liver, independent of their benefits for obesity, researchers \u200cstudying the medicines in mice with fatty liver disease have found.<\/p>\n
Scientists had believed that liver cells do not have the \u200csurface proteins, or receptors, targeted by these drugs, suggesting that they likely had no direct route to the liver.<\/p>\n
In experiments with mice with fatty liver disease, researchers found that \u200bcertain liver cells do carry receptors for semaglutide, the GLP-1 drug sold by Novo Nordisk as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss.<\/p>\n
The cells, called liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, or LSECs, account for only about 3% of all liver cells. They line tiny blood vessels in the liver and are studded with pores that allow them to filter substances passing between the liver and the bloodstream.<\/p>\n
Semaglutide shifts gene activity in LSECs, prompting \u200cthem to release molecules that help reduce inflammation \u2060throughout the liver, the researchers reported on Tuesday in Cell Metabolism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in clinical trials that patients (taking GLP-1 drugs) who lose very little weight see the same reductions in liver inflammation, scarring and enzyme levels as those \u2060who lose a great deal of weight. Now we know why,\u201d study leader Dr. Daniel Drucker of Sinai Health in Toronto said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re not saying weight loss isn’t important because many things improve when patients lose weight,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we now know that weight shouldn’t be the only measure \u200bof \u200bsuccess, because GLP-1 medicines will improve liver health whether or not the patient \u200bloses weight.\u201d<\/p>\n
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER HOW OBESITY IMPAIRS VACCINE RESPONSE<\/p>\n
A new \u200cstudy sheds light on why traditional vaccines that rely on high antibody production tend to be less effective in people with obesity.<\/p>\n
For the study, mice with obesity were vaccinated against a common bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a leading cause of severe pneumonia for people with obesity.<\/p>\n
The researchers discovered that the decreased quality and longevity of antibody responses to the vaccine was due to defects in so-called germinal centers in the lymph nodes and spleen, where specialized immune cells called B cells produce antibodies and learn to recognize and remember germs.<\/p>\n
Although the antibody response was \u200cimpaired, the vaccine did generate a strong response from immune cells that live \u200bpermanently in the lungs and do not circulate through the bloodstream, known as tissue-resident \u200bmemory T cells.<\/p>\n
In response to the P. aeruginosa vaccine, resident \u200bmemory T cells provided early, critical protection against infection, which suggests they could be helping to compensate for \u200cantibody deficiencies, the researchers said.<\/p>\n
Emerging antibiotic resistance increasingly makes \u200bthe infection difficult to treat, highlighting the \u200bneed for effective vaccines, according to a report of the study in the Journal of Immunology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope these findings shift the focus of vaccine design and lead to more effective, tailored vaccines for the millions of people living with obesity who are \u200bat higher risk for severe respiratory infections,\u201d study \u200cleader Wendy Picking of the University of Missouri said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should intentionally design vaccines that prioritize tissue-resident immunity, \u200bensuring protection directly where pathogens like Pseudomonas enter the body,\u201d Picking said.<\/p>\n
(To receive the full newsletter in your inbox \u200bfor free sign up here)<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[271],"tags":[33800,33801,33802,33803,272,357,22895,280],"class_list":["post-61471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novo-nordisk","tag-fatty-liver-disease","tag-liver-cells","tag-liver-inflammation","tag-liver-sinusoidal-endothelial-cells","tag-novo-nordisk","tag-obesity","tag-researchers","tag-weight-loss"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116408569406141025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}