Obesity increases skin vulnerability

[corybroo]

This article reports benefits to mild CR.  They compared healthy vs obese skin.  Initially mice were tested but then 54 humans were treated in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial.

Research identifies obesity and infection link, as well as treatment found on healthy human skin

[The researchers] found that when mice are fed a high fat diet and become obese, skin adipocytes (or fat cells) become enlarged and lose the ability to fight against bacterial invasion during an skin infection.

The findings revealed that an increased number of mature adipocytes (fat cells) increases TGFβ signaling, which in turn decreases the number dermal adipocyte progenitors that produce an antimicrobial peptide called cathelicidin. This absence leaves the epidermis vulnerable to infection from common culprits like Staphylococcus aureus. In lean subjects (both mice and human in this study), the skin microbiome was successful in preventing Staph infections, as the number of mature fat cells was insufficient to disrupt the normal dermal fat functions that keep such infections at bay. 

Normally, skin fat cells can rapidly respond to invading bacteria, and produce a molecule called antimicrobial peptide, which is the antibiotics produced by our own cells, to kill bacteria. However, upon obesity, the enlarged skin fat cells lose the ability to produce antimicrobial peptides, and this is mediated by a cell signaling protein transforming growth factor beta or TGFβ, which is produced by the enlarged fat cells and negatively impacts antimicrobial peptides during obesity

Edited February 25, 2021 by corybroo
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