New Blood Test May Measure Visceral Fat
Posted on September 26, 2007
The BBC reports that a new blood test that measures the amount of a protein called RBP4 in the blood may help determine the amount of fat around a person's internal organs. The scientists doing the research are hopeful that cutting RBP4 may have health benefits.
The researchers believe that measuring RBP4 would potentially be an effective way to assess body fat, and that treatment to cut levels of the protein might also have health benefits.Measuring visceral fat is important because just because people appear fat on the outside doesn't mean they have a lot of visceral fat. There are also people known as tofis (thin on the outside, fat on the inside) who appear thin but carry a lot of visceral fat, or fat around their internal organs.In previous work, they showed that cutting RBP4 levels in obese mice helped the animals to make better use of the hormone insulin - and thus reduce their risk of diabetes.
They also showed that measures to improve insulin sensitivity in human subjects resulted in a drop in RPB4 levels.
Researcher Dr Matthias Bluher said: "We believe that in the near future, measurements of RBP4 serum concentrations might serve as a novel biomarker for visceral obesity and increased risk for type 2 diabetes and other adverse outcomes of visceral obesity.
"In addition, pharmacological interventions that reduce RBP4 levels might be a new approach in the treatment of metabolic syndrome and visceral obesity."
The only known function of RBP4 is to carry vitamin A in the blood.
