Identification of three fatty acids involved in the extreme
growth of Burmese pythons' hearts following large meals could
prove beneficial in treating diseased human hearts... The expanded
python heart appears remarkably similar to the larger-than-normal
hearts of Olympic-caliber athletes.
the human heart can be beneficial when resulting from exercise
– a type of growth known as physiological cardiac hypertrophy
– but damaging when triggered by disease – growth known as pathological
hypertrophy. The new research shows a potential avenue by which
to make the unhealthy heart growth more like the healthy version.The
research, conducted in collaboration with multiple researchers
at the University of Colorado working in the lab of Dr. Leslie
Leinwand, identified three fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic
acid and palmitoleic acid, for their roles in the snakes' healthy
heart growths following a meal.
took these fatty acids from feasting pythons and infused them
into fasting pythons. Afterward, those fasting pythons underwent
heart-rate growths similar to that of the feasting pythons.
In a similar fashion, the researchers were able to induce comparable
heart-rate growths in rats, indicating that the fatty acids
have a similar effect on the mammalian heart. The paper, whose
lead author was Dr. Cecilia Riquelme of the University of Colorado,
also showed that the pythons' heart growth was a result of the
individual heart cells growing in size, rather than multiplying
gene expression in the python hearts – which genes are turned
on following feasting – the research, Secor said, shows that
the changes the pythons' hearts undergo is more like the positive
changes seen in a marathon runner rather than the types of changes
seen in a diseased, or genetically altered, heart.
marathon runners, rowers, swimmers, they tend to have larger
hearts," Secor said. "It's the heart working harder to move
blood through it. The term is 'volume overload,' in reference
to more blood being pumped to tissues. In response, the heart's
chambers get larger, and more blood is pushed out with every
contraction, resulting in increased cardiac performance." However,
the time-frame of this increased heart performance of a python
blows away even the most physically-fit distance runner, Secor
said. "Instead of experiencing elevated cardiac performance
for several hours with running, the Burmese python is maintaining
heightened cardiac output for five to six days, non-stop, while
digesting their large meal."
interesting finding of the research, Secor said, is even with
the increased volume of triglycerides circulating in the snakes
after feeding, those lipids are not remaining within the snakes'
hearts or vascular systems after the completion of digestion.
"The python hearts are using the circulating lipids to fuel
the increase in performance." Traditionally, mice have been
the preferred animal model used to study the genetic heart disease
known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by heart
growth and contractile dysfunction. However, the snakes' unusual
physiological responses render them more insightful models,
in some cases, Secor said. Pythons are infrequent feeders, sometimes
eating only once or twice a year in the wild. When they do eat,
they undergo extreme physiologic and metabolic changes that
include increases in the size of the heart, along with the liver,
pancreas, small intestine and kidney. Three days after a feeding,
a python's heart mass can increase as much as 40 percent, before
reverting to its pre-meal size once digestion is completed,
Source: University of Alabama
acid, also called tetradecanoic acid, is a common saturated
fatty acid with the molecular formula CH3(CH2)12COOH.
nutmeg, myristic acid is also found in palm kernel oil,
coconut oil, butter fat and is a minor component of many
other animal fats
acid, also called hexadecanoic acid, is one of the most
common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants.
It is a white solid that melts at 63.1°C and its chemical
formula is CH3(CH2)14COOH. As its name tells us, it is
found in palm oil but also in butter, cheese, milk and
meat. Palmitic acid is the first fatty acid produced during
lipogenesis and from which longer fatty acids can be produced.
acid, or (Z)-9-hexadecenoic acid, is an omega-7 monounsaturated
fatty acid with the formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH that
is a common constituent of the glycerides of human adipose
tissue. It is present in all tissues, but generally found
in higher concentrations in the liver. It is biosynthesized
from palmitic acid by the action of the enzyme delta-9
sources of palmitoleic acid include a variety of animal
oils, vegetable oils, and marine oils. Macadamia Nuts,
Macadamia oil (Macadamia integrifolia) and sea buckthorn
oil (Hippophae rhamnoides) are botanical sources with
high concentrations, containing 17% and 40% of palmitoleic
may later be able to turn the tables, in a sense, in the processes
involved in pathological hypertrophy by administering a combination
of fatty acids that occur in very high concentrations in the
blood of digesting pythons,” said Dr. Stephen Secor, associate
professor of biological sciences at UA and one of the paper’s
co-authors. “This could trigger, perhaps, something more akin
to the physiological form of hypertrophy.”
Research in Endogenous Fatty Acids
is limited in the area of endogenous fatty acids e.g., myristic
acid (14:0), palmitic acid (16:0), palmitoleic acid (16:1 n7),
vaccenic acid (18:1 n7), stearic acid (18:0), oleic acid (18:1
n9), and a related fatty acid, cis-7 hexadecenoic acid (16:1
n9). Several fatty acids that are end products of fatty acid
synthesis are associated with SCA (sudden cardiac arrest) risk.
red blood cell membrane fatty acids and sudden cardiac arrest.
improve hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia by increasing
insulin sensitivity, in part owing to suppressing proinflammatory
gene expressions and improving hepatic lipid metabolism in diabetic
more research is needed in this area.