Described new mediator involved in the development of damage associated with obesity.

Obesity —mainly visceral obesity— is one of the greatest risk factors in the development of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, such as endothelial dysfunction, arterial stiffness or insulin resistance, representing a major public health problem that is constantly growing. Now, we have described the important role played by the enzyme mPGES-1 (Microsomal Prostaglandin E synthase 1) in the development of vascular, cardiac and metabolic alterations that occur in a situation of obesity. The study, carried out in mice of both sexes fed a high-fat diet and lacking mPGES-1, shows that the absence of the gene prevents weight gain and glycemic and lipid alterations that do develop in normal mice fed the same diet. Likewise, these mice are protected against the development of vascular and cardiac alterations, and against the inflammation of adipose tissue that is observed in normal mice. The work, which is published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, is also signed by basic and clinical researchers from the UAM, CIBERCV, Idipaz, La Paz and La Princesa Hospitals, the Complutense University of Madrid, the Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute and the Sant Pau Biomedical Research.

Researchers from the UAM, CIBERCV, IdiPaz, from the left: María González-Amor, Raquel Rodrigues-Diez, Ana M. Briones, Constanza Ballesteros-Martínez and Mercedes Salaices.

Cite: Ballesteros-Martinez C, Rodrigues-Diez R, Beltrán LM, Moreno-Carriles R, Martínez-Martínez E, González-Amor M, Martínez-González J, Rodríguez C, Cachofeiro V, Salaices M, Briones AM. Microsomal Prostaglandin E Synthase-1 (mPGES-1) is involved in the metabolic and cardiovascular alterations associated with obesity. Br J Pharmacol. 2021 Dec 7. doi: 10.1111/bph.15776. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34877656.