A new study from the University of Queensland has reported that the liver may have a differentiated physiological self-protective response. Thus, when any specific damage occurs, this organ gains some characteristics considered “feminine”. In this study, it was first noted that this happens in rodents, and only later was it seen in humans. Therefore, understand the function of the liver and how it performs this “sex change”.
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Liver: what is its role?
This is the largest organ that the human body has, and therefore performs fundamental and complex activities for its functioning. All mechanisms, be it breathing, consumption of food and drink or the absorption that the skin performs, enter the bloodstream to be processed directly by the liver.
Some of its specific functions are: transforming fats, proteins and carbohydrates into energy and nutrients; break down fats through the production of bile; eliminate bad bacteria as well as chemicals; among others.
dimorphic organ
It is important to understand that the liver is a sexually dimorphic organ, as there are specific and notable differences between the female and the male. Therefore, when researchers sought to understand the relationship between the biological clock, obesity and diabetes, “sex change” was discovered by chance.
In this situation, the researchers fed the rodents a diet rich in fat after removing a gene essential for the functioning of the biological clock. In this way, it was expected that diabetes or fatty liver would develop in them, but in fact, the liver of male rats ended up producing female sex hormone, estrogen.
Therefore, scholars deepened their research in humans and realized that the more the disease progressed, the more the liver tissue acquired “feminine” characteristics. The researcher Frederic Gachon then concluded that the interruption of the biological clock can become a protector for the liver, as it will influence the production of hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
Treatment for liver disease?
Thus, it is concluded that this biological clock can play a role in delaying the development of diseases, as it adjusts the pathways of metabolism. Thus, researchers now want to investigate whether intervening in human hormonal behavior can serve as a treatment for liver diseases.