Adipose tissue may cause anxiety

The question of how the body affects the psyche has long been of concern to physicians and psychologists. But now the attention of scientists has been drawn not just to the influence of general well-being on mood, but to the specific role of fat tissue in the development of anxiety.

The new discovery was made by specialists from McMaster University in Canada. According to Professor Gregory Steinberg, this is an important step towards understanding why anxiety and excess weight often go hand in hand. He notes: metabolism and emotional state are much more closely linked than we tend to think.

The team studied how the body responds to stress. In a state of anxiety, the “hit or run” mechanism is activated, which triggers the breakdown of fat – a process called lipolysis. This releases fatty acids into the bloodstream and then the hormone GDF15, which is secreted by immune cells located in fat tissue. It is this hormone that “tells” the brain to be alert.

Confirmation of this chain of reactions was obtained in experiments on mice. Behavioral tests showed that in animals with an active release of the hormone increased signs of anxiety. Analysis at the molecular level helped to trace exactly how changes in adipose tissue affect brain function.

As postdoctoral researcher Logan Townsend emphasizes, the discovery could be the basis for the creation of new approaches to the treatment of anxiety. Importantly, it is possible to influence not the brain itself, but the metabolism, reducing anxiety through the regulation of hormones produced by fat.

Blocking GDF15 seems particularly promising – this is what a number of pharma companies are now focusing their development efforts on, having originally considered this route for cancer therapy. But now the molecule may have a new application – helping with anxiety disorders.