New study links deficient metabolic processes and fasting to the development of some diseases

Oct 6, 2008 08:05 GMT  ·  By

Doctors point out the fact that fasting may become dangerous for some people if proper control measures are not employed. This refers to a regulatory process that needs to be set in place before and after fasting periods. When deprived of its usual source of energy, which is glucose extracted from food, the brain seeks out other means to draw its fuel from the body. This is usually done through a process known as gluconeogenesis, which implies converting proteins drawn from muscles and fat tissue into glucose to be shipped to the brain via the bloodstream.  

While this may seem to be good news for those who wish to drop a few pounds, it's not really that good for the brain. Its energy requirements for optimum performances are very high and there's only so much protein it can withdraw from the muscles without affecting them permanently. The human body is perfectly equipped to regulate any such transfer that may be required under certain conditions. But it is also not designed to sacrifice an organ for another. If constant pressure is placed on the muscles to give up the proteins the brain needs to operate, then they will eventually shut down or, best case scenario, become incapacitated.  

Lead scientist Marc Montminy, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, who conducted this study, showed through mice experiments that there actually are two proteins, CRTC2 and FOXO1 respectively, that regulate the gluconeogenesis process. CRTC2 kicks in at the first stages of glucose absence, producing massive amounts from muscle proteins in order to compensate for brain requirements. It then passes on its "responsibilities" to FOXO1, which is better equipped to handle long-term lack of glucose, by stimulating the production of ketone bodies, which can feed the brain with energy without the body having to extract any more protein from the muscles.  

The discovery of this process is very important because it opens new ways for doctors to look at diabetes patients, who have highly active glucose-producing enzymes that produce large amounts of sugar. As some are resistant to insulin, the manipulation of the CRTC2 and FOXO1 proteins to regulate the flow of sugar may prove an alternate solution.