New iScience study explains why obesity is more dangerous for men

A newly published study from the University of York reveals the biological basis of sex differences in obesity-related diseases, with researchers observing "significant" differences
in the cells that build blood vessels in adipose tissue of male and female mice.

Professor Tara Haas, from the University of York's College of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, said men were more likely than women to develop obesity-related diseases
such as cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.

"People have used rodent models to study obesity, as well as obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, but they usually only study male rodents because females are resistant to the same type of disease, and we are very interested in exploring that difference because for us, it says something really interesting going on in women that protects them
.
"

Tara Haas and her team observed in an earlier study that when mice became obese, females grew a large number of new blood vessels that provided oxygen and nutrients to the dilated adipose tissue, while males grew much
less.
In the latest study, published in the journal iScience, Tara Haas et al.
focused on differences in endothelial cells that make up vascular building blocks in adipose tissue
.

The team used software to help screen thousands of genes, targeting those involved in blood vessel growth
.
They found that female mice had more processes associated with neovascularization and more processes associated with inflammation in male mice
.

"The extent to which the inflammation-related processes are prevalent in men is quite alarming
," Haas says.
Other studies have shown that when endothelial cells have this inflammatory response, they function very abnormally and they do not respond
correctly to stimuli.
”

Pislaru said: "We observed that female endothelial cells can show sustained resilience even under the stress of a long-term high-fat diet, which is exciting
.
Our findings could help researchers better understand why obesity behaves differently
in men and women.
" ”

The researchers also examined the behavior
of endothelial cells when they were removed from the body and studied in a dish.

"Even if we take them out of the body without circulating sex hormones or other factors, male and female endothelial cells still behave very differently
.
"

Female endothelial cells replicate faster, while male endothelial cells show greater sensitivity
to inflammatory stimuli.
By comparing it with a previously published dataset, the researchers found that endothelial cells of older male mice also exhibited more inflammatory features
than female cells.

"You can't assume that both sexes react the same
way to the same series of events," Haas said.
It's not just an issue related to obesity, I think it's a broader conceptual issue that includes healthy aging
as well.
Our findings imply that in some cases, treatments that are ideal for men are not ideal for women, and vice versa
.
”