Finding About Fat May Help Fight Heart Disease

Scientists have found new evidence that manipulating signals from fat cells may offer a new weapon in the battle against heart disease, the No. 2 killer in the nation.

The research, published in the April issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, is based on a new theory that treats fat as an “organ” that produces proteins and hormones that affect metabolism and health.

“It is well known that obesity affects nearly one-third of adults in the United States and is closely linked with heart disease,” said Tongjian You, an instructor in geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and lead author of the study. “While we don’t fully understand the link, our study suggests that inflammatory proteins produced by fat itself plays a role.”

Until recently, most research had suggested that being fat was a heart risk factor because it made the heart work harder or was associated with higher cholesterol levels.

But over the past several years, fat and related chemicals have been getting a second look as contributors to artery damage.

Barbara Nicklas, an associate professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest and senior researcher on the study, said the proteins offer new targets in the battle against heart disease. “It’s possible that modifying the inflammatory proteins through medication could also lower the risk of heart disease,” she said. “Our goal is to learn more about how these proteins are produced and how levels can be changed.”

Nicklas and colleagues already have begun a study that will test whether diet and exercise affect levels of the protein.

E. coli infection outbreak

A Florida girl’s death is being investigated for possible links to an outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections among people who attended one of two fairs that included petting zoos, the state’s top health official said yesterday.

Florida Health Secretary John Agwunobi said there are 14 confirmed cases of people becoming ill after attending the Strawberry Festival in Plant City or the Central Florida Fair in Orlando in early March. He said they tested positive for either E. coli infection or a kidney disease that sometimes results from E. coli.

Officials have said that contact with animals in petting zoos that were at both fairs was one possible source of the infection, but Agwunobi cautioned that officials didn’t know the definitive source.

Other possible sources include tainted food, or contact with other animals, animal waste or even hay fed to animals, he said.

Along with the 14 confirmed cases, state health officials are investigating seven others around the state, including one involving the death of a girl in Pasco County, he said.

Health officials declined to identify the girl, but the St. Petersburg Times reported she was a 12-year-old who had visited the Strawberry Festival.