A new study found that fatty foods affect the production of stem cells in mice, increasing the likelihood of bowel cancer, according to an online edition for girls and women aged 14 to 35. Pannochka. net This is reported by American scientists in the journal Nature.

Employees of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, the Koch Institute of Cancer and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) conducted a major joint work that first shed light on the mechanisms behind the carcinogenic effect of the high-fat diet.

For the past 10 years scientists from around the world have been blaming a high-fat calorie diet for promoting many types of cancer, especially colon cancer. But no one can explain what exactly happens in the body under the influence of fatty foods.

Now, American scientists have proven that an excess of fat changes the biology of stem cells in the mucosa of the intestine of mice. With such an irrational diet, the production of stem cells sharply increases, and some mature cells acquire abnormal properties, which increases the risk of their degeneration.

"Stem cells are progenitor cells that can multiply to infinity, and which are not completely differentiated. They should gradually turn into mature cells of a particular tissue. But the high fat diet interferes with this process, increasing the likelihood of these cells becoming malignant, "says MIT biology professor Omer Yilmaz, author of the paper.

Stem cells inhabit the mucous membrane of the intestine of humans and animals, turning into mature cells of various types and, optionally, replacing old, dying cells. As recent research shows, stem cells of the intestine accumulate different mutations during our lifetime, which at one time can cause cancer.

In the course of their experiments, scientists fed mice with a very fatty food containing about 60% fat. This is much more than in the traditional American diet, where fat accounts for 30-40%.

At the end of the 9-month experiment rodents added 30-50% of the original body weight.

Worst of all, there were changes in the cells of their intestines, predisposing them to cancer. First, there are more stem cells in the mucosa. Secondly, some mature cells acquired an abnormal ability to work independently of the surrounding cells, that is, they could "not listen" to the signals of neighbors.

According to Professor Yilmaz, all this proves the role of fatty foods in the development of bowel cancer.

Therefore, if you are worried about this disease - pay attention to your diet!.

medbe. en.