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Danger Molecule HMGB1 Is High Among Obese, Female, and Black Young Adults, Study Suggests

Feb, 2021 - By WMR

According to a new study led by the researchers of Medical College of Georgia have reported that High Mobility Group Box-1 or HMGB1 also known as 'danger molecule' level is higher in the blood of younger black adults, in comparison to whites, it is much more significant in females in comparison to males and further upsurges with weight and age. Moreover researchers have associated HMGB1 levels with obesity, inflammation promoters, and as an early indicator of cardiovascular risk in humans.

Researchers highlights the potential of circulating HMGB1 levels to act as biomarker of cardiovascular risk and application of HMGB1 antibodies or inhibitors in preventing or treating obesity, chronic inflammation, and cardiovascular disease. HMGB1 are damage-associated molecular patterns, or DAMPs have a positive role, when it is inside the nucleus or cytoplasm of cells. However, when HMGB1 is released by injured or stressed cell activates an immune response that spreads and induces chronic state of inflammation.

In the study, researchers involved 489 individuals with an average age of 25 and four blood samples were drawn over the duration of 8.5 years. Later, after the evaluation, researchers observed that obese people exhibited high levels of HMGB1 over time, especially in individuals with a high waist-hip ratio.

Moreover, researchers also noted that blood levels of HMGB1 was higher in black individuals and females and remained higher throughout the entire duration of 8.5 years, indicating that blacks individuals are at higher risk for developing severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems at an younger age, in comparison to whites.

Chen stated, “Females tend to be healthier than males by a lot of markers. But this one is in the opposite direction. At least before menopause, females tend to have fewer cardiovascular problems than males. The researchers suspect that generally higher percentages of body fat in females might help explain the higher HMGB1 levels, but that younger females may have unique cardiovascular protections, like estrogen.”