Research by Danish scientists has shown that the skin is able to communicate with the liver. This discovery could help us understand how skin diseases affect our body, according to Cell Reports.
We have observed that what happens in the skin affects the metabolism in the liver, which is quite a surprising finding – says Prof. Susanne Mandrup from the University of Southern Denmark.
Scientists from the team of prof. Mandrup noticed this relationship by accident while working on something completely different. They conducted their observations among modified laboratory mice lacking acyl coenzyme A binding protein (ACBP), which plays a role in fat metabolism. Some of these rodents had specific greasy fur and found it difficult to survive after weaning. During the feeding period, the young gained less weight and accumulated more fat in the liver.
At first, we thought that the fat build-up in the liver was due to the loss of the gene in the rodents. However, this was ruled out after conducting a series of studies and forced us to look for another explanation – emphasizes the co-author of the study, Ditte Neess.
Scientists then looked at the skin of the mice. It has been found to lose more water than normal rodents.
Along with the water, they also lost body heat. So we asked ourselves if these losses could be the cause of the fat accumulation in the liver and the weakening of the mice after weaning, Neess continues.
Another group of rodents was deprived of ACBP protein only in the skin. Their problems turned out to be analogous to those observed in the previous group. This indicated that the mere lack of protein in the skin affected liver function. To prevent water and heat loss, scientists covered the rodents’ skin with petroleum jelly. As a result, the problem of fat accumulation in the liver has been eliminated. The same happened after covering the skin of rodents with liquid latex.
We believe that the loss of water in the skin makes mice feel cool, which leads to the breakdown of adipocytes, which transports fat to the liver; energy is also accumulated there, the researchers explain. (PAP)