A research group led by Professor Hideki Katagiri, Assistant Professor Kenji Uno and Professor Yoshitomo Oka at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine has elucidated the mechanism for hypertension with gaining weight.

 Obesity resulting from lifestyle habits, such as overeating, is more likely to cause diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia. These symptoms are collectively called as the metabolic syndrome. Since patients with metabolic syndrome are at a high risk of arterial sclerosis and the number of patients is increasing rapidly, metabolic syndrome is considered to be a big social and medical issue. In this study, the research group has elucidated the mechanism for obesity-related hypertension, the main symptom of the metabolic syndrome. The mechanisms involve a neural signal from the liver, which was previously discovered by the same group.

 The research results will be published in European Heart Journal. The paper's title is "Hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ–fat-specific protein 27 pathway contributes to obesity-related hypertension via afferent vagal signals".

More information (Japanese)

[Contact]

(About the research)

Professor Hideki Katagiri

Center for Metabolic Diseases,

Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine

TEL: +81-22-717-8228, FAX: +81-22-717-8169

E-mail: katagiri*med.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)

(Public Relations)

Associate professor Fuji Nagami

Public Relations Office of Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine

Tel: +81-22-717-7908, Fax: +81-22-717-8187

E-mail: f-nagami*med.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)