New research from Japan appears to indicate that not all fats are necessarily bad for the liver.

The Japanese researchers changed the fat composition in the livers of mutant mice and proceeded to feed them the same highly fatty diet as they did a group of regular mice.

Both groups of mice became obese, with the regular mice developing resistance to insulin and becoming prone to diabetes, while the mutant mice remained free from these conditions.

Associate Professor Hitoshi Shimano from the University of Tsukuba, said ‘Obesity is a matter of quantity of fats in the body. But it is our new message that the quality of fats could be a new determinant factor for diabetes’.

A high intake of fat can lead to obesity and excess fat being stored in the liver - a situation which has long been linked to increased insulin resistance and risk of diabetes.

‘The absolute levels of fat in the liver do not therefore seem to be detrimental to maintaining normal glucose levels. Instead, the types of fat that are present seem to be a more important factor, with shorter fat molecules being healthier than longer ones’ the researchers said.

The scientists changed the fat composition by creating mice without the Elovl6 enzyme, which increases the length of the carbon chains of fatty acids.

‘Unlike normal mice that became insulin resistant and prone to diabetes after they became obese, the KO mice were free from insulin resistance and diabetes. In other words, we made mice that did not become diabetic even after they became obese’.

If drugs could be developed which inhibited this same enzyme in people, it could reduce the risk of diabetes for obese individuals who find it hard to lose weight.

Shimano concluded; ‘If what we found in these mice is applicable to humans, a drug that inhibits this enzyme could be a miracle anti-diabetic drug that does not require diet’.