The Study
Atrial natriuretic peptide regulates lipid mobilization and oxygen consumption in human adipocytes by activating AMPK.
This study looked at human fat cells in a dish and saw that a hormone called ANP made them burn more fat and use more oxygen. We can't say for sure that ANP causes these changes in people, because the experiment was done in cells, not in real humans.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
A chemical from the heart called ANP tells fat cells to burn more fat and energy. It works by turning on a switch in the cell called AMPK.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 534 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1This shows ANP can boost fat burning in human fat cells in a lab, which might help treat metabolic problems, but it's not tested in people yet.
- 2ANP made fat cells break down fat 7 times more and use 2 times more oxygen.
- 3It also boosted 3 energy-related genes by 1.3 to 1.4 times.
- 4When cells were sick (insulin resistant), ANP fixed the gene levels.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Biochemical and biophysical research communications
Year
2011
Authors
Sandra C. Souza, M. Chau, Qing Yang, M. Gauthier, K. B. Clairmont, Zhidan Wu, J. Gromada, W. Dole
Related Content
Claims (5)
ANP helps break down fat in human fat cells in the lab, and it does this by turning on a specific switch called the alpha2 part of AMPK. If you block that switch, ANP can't do its fat-burning job anymore.
A hormone called ANP might supercharge fat cells in a lab, making them burn fat seven times more and use twice as much oxygen by turning on a specific energy sensor in the cell.
A hormone called ANP might help fat cells burn more energy by boosting their tiny power plants, according to lab studies.
A hormone called ANP might help fix broken energy factories in fat cells that aren't responding well to insulin — at least in lab dishes.
When your cells are running low on energy, a protein called AMPK senses this and tells the cell to break down stored sugar and fat to make more fuel.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.