Study Spots Protein That Helps Body Clear Dead Cells

FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A protein called adiponectin -- produced by fat cells -- helps clear dead cells from the body and reduce inflammation that causes autoimmune diseases, diabetes and heart disease, a U.S. study finds.

The discovery may improve researchers' understanding of these diseases and help them develop new ways to prevent or treat them, the study authors said. They found that in lab mice, adiponectin reduced inflammation by helping macrophages (eater cells) remove dead cells from the body, an important part of immune system function.

Each day, billions of dead cells are produced as the body's cells are renewed. Accumulation of these dead cells can cause inflammation and immune system dysfunction.

"Adiponectin facilitates that process by forming a bridge between the dead cells and the macrophages that will consume them," study senior author Kenneth Walsh, director of molecular cardiology at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

The study was published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

"Understanding how fat controls inflammation is a key to understanding how fat contributes to many disease processes. This study has figured out one of the mechanisms by which fat controls inflammation," Walsh said.

Impaired clearance of dead cells may play an important role in diabetes and cardiovascular disease, he said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about autoimmunity.

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