Fat fights inflammation

A study on page 1023 reveals a potential benefit of much-maligned high fat foods. According to Luyer and colleagues, the same hormone that makes you feel full after a fatty meal might also prevent immune cells from mistakenly attacking food proteins as if they were foreign invaders.Eating—particularly eating fat-rich foods—triggers the production of a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) by cells that line the small intestine. CCK binds to its receptor on cells in the gut, pancreas, and central nervous system (CNS), thus stimulating digestive functions, including gut peristalsis and insulin release, and triggering satiation. Luyer and his colleagues recently showed that dietary fat also blunts the inflammatory response in a rat model of hemorrhagic shock.

The new study connects CCK to a recently identified antiinflammatory pathway that is controlled by the vagus nerve. This...