The Effects of Metabolic Surgery on Mitochondrial Dysfunction and its Potential Link to Obesity-Associated Cancers

Epidemiologic evidence strongly suggests that increased body weight is associated with an increase in death rates from all cancers combined.1,2 Large population cohort studies suggest that metabolic surgery is the most effective intervention for sustained weight loss3,4 and also reduces the incidence of obesity associated cancers.4-6 Mitochondria are responsible for energy production in virtually every cell in the body and defects in the energy pathways can lead to the development of obesity7 and possibly multiple cancers8. The CDC recognizes that up to 13 types of cancers are linked to obesity,9 which suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction may be a common pathway for these diseases. Evidence supports that weight loss following metabolic surgery can affect mitochondrial structure and function.10 For this reason, there is a critical need to define the impact of metabolic surgery on mitochondrial dysfunction in decreasing the risk of neoplastic transformation. Our long-term goal is to disentangle the mechanisms of how metabolic surgery reduces and/or reverses mitochondrial dysfunction, subsequently reducing the incidence of obesity associated cancers. Thus, our overall objectives in this application are to i) determine the effects)of metabolic surgery on mitochondrial dysfunction and ii) determine specific sites of resistance within the mitochondrial energy transduction pathway that may be in common in patients with cancer as well as in patients with obesity.

Scholars @ ECU