Treating obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP led to significant abdominal fat and weight loss compared to controls. The animal model findings support the possibility that increasing sebum production via the immune system could be a strategy for treating obesity in people.

«This was a completely unforeseen finding, but we’ve demonstrated that fat loss can be achieved by secreting calories from the skin in the form of energy-rich sebum,» said principal investigator Taku Kambayashi, MD, PhD,an associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn, who led the study with fourth-year medical student Ruth Choa, PhD. «We believe that we are the first group to show a non-hormonal way to induce this process, highlighting an unexpected role for the body’s immune system.»

The animal model findings, Kambayashi said, support the possibility that increasing sebum production via the immune system could be a strategy for treating obesity in people.

The Hypothesis

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a cytokine — a type of immune system protein — involved in asthma and other allergic diseases. The Kambayashi research group has been investigating the expanded role of this cytokine to activate Type 2 immune cells and expand T regulatory cells. Since past studies have indicated that these cells can regulate energy metabolism, the researchers predicted that treating overweight mice with TSLP could stimulate an immune response, which could subsequently counteract some of the harmful effects of obesity.

«Initially, we did not think TSLP would have any effect on obesity itself. What we wanted to find out was whether it could impact insulin resistance,» Kambayashi said. «We thought that the cytokine could correct Type 2 diabetes, without actually causing the mice to lose any weight.»

The Experiment

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