Raising a fat-cell protein reversed diet-induced obesity in mice
In genetically altered middle-aged mice, increasing a protein in fat cells restored lymphatic function and reversed severe obesity caused by a high-fat diet.
Paper by Zebei Zhang, Lian Xu, Yuwen Cheng et al.
Limit: The abstract omits group sizes and high-fat diet duration, limiting assessment of reliability
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Middle-aged mice were more susceptible than young mice to obesity caused by a high-fat diet in an animal experiment. They also had fewer lymphatic vessels, poorer lymphatic function and less of a protein called platelet-derived growth factor D (PDGF-D) in fat tissue. Lymphatic vessels drain fluid from tissues.
The researchers genetically altered mice to remove or increase PDGF-D production specifically in fat cells. Removing it impaired lymphatic function and worsened diet-induced obesity in young mice, without directly affecting fat cells. Increasing it restored lymphatic function and reversed severe diet-induced obesity in middle-aged mice. Separately, experiments in cells grown in the lab found that fat-cell-derived PDGF-D helped cells lining lymphatic vessels grow, form tubes and maintain a barrier against fat leakage.
Why it matters
The study addressed why susceptibility to diet-induced obesity changes with age, focusing on how fat tissue and lymphatic vessels interact.
Caveats
The findings came from mouse experiments and cells grown in the lab, not studies in people. The abstract does not report group sizes or how long the mice ate the high-fat diet.
The paper
Adipocyte-derived PDGF-D Counteracts Age-associated Obesity Through Ameliorating Lymphatic Function
Zebei Zhang, Lian Xu, Yuwen Cheng et al.
Frontiers in Endocrinology, Oct 30, 2026, CC BY, Accepted, not yet published
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