Matam Vijay-Kumar, Jesse D Aitken, Frederic A Carvalho, Tyler C Cullender, Simon Mwangi, Shanthi Srinivasan, Shanthi V Sitaraman, Rob Knight, Ruth E Ley, Andrew T Gewirtz
Metabolic syndrome is a group of obesity-related metabolic abnormalities that increase an individual's risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Here, we show that mice genetically deficient in Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5), a component of the innate immune system that is expressed in the gut mucosa and that helps defend against infection, exhibit hyperphagia and develop hallmark features of metabolic syndrome, including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, and increased adiposity...
April 9, 2010: Science