Uninfected mice fed a high-fat diet almost doubled in size. But they were the only group to do so. All animals fed the regular diet grew normally. The same was true for worm-infected mice fed a high-fat diet.
If the infected mice lost weight due to bleeding from the worms, why didn’t those on a normal diet lose weight compared to uninfected mice? The answer was a bit more complicated, Shi’s group showed. The worms changed how the infected mice processed the high-fat diet.
When uninfected mice became obese, their blood sugar levels increased. Fats like cholesterol (Koh-LES-tur-awl) and triglycerides (Try-GLIH-sur-eydz) also increased in the blood. Even his liver was fatty. And that was not all. Different fat-related genes are activated in these animals.
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