title: Age-related obesity is a heritage of the evolutionary past.
abstract: In the process of human aging, an increase in the total amount of fat is observed mainly due to accumulation of lipids in non-adipose tissues. Insulin resistance, provoked by the intracellular accumulation of triglycerides, is often associated with development of such age-related diseases as atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and also with systemic inflammation and lipo- and glucose toxicity. Accumulation of lipids and lipophilic compounds is a biological phenomenon common for both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Initially, it arose as an adaptation to starvation and shortage of nitrogen-containing nutrients, but later it converted into a depot of membrane material, needed on recommencement of cell division. In rodents and humans, the accumulation of non-metabolized fat in non-adipose tissues can be regarded as an adaptation to changes in the internal medium on a certain stage of ontogenesis as a result of age-related dysfunction of adipose tissue.
authors.affiliation: World Wide Medical Assistance, Oberwil B. Zug, 6317, Switzerland. info@wwma.ch.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Tereshina
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Ivanenko
mesh_terms: D052436:Adipose Tissue, White / Q000473:pathology; D050154:Adiposity; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism*; D015003:Yeasts / Q000378:metabolism