The Burmese python's heart increases in mass by an astounding 40% during the two to three days that follow a large meal, thanks in part to a specific set of fat molecules in the blood.
This enlargement helps the python to digest huge feasts. Leslie Leinwand at the University of Colorado in Boulder and her colleagues examined hearts in this snake species, Python molurus (pictured), before and after a meal. Instead of seeing signs of cell division in the postprandial heart, they found that the heart cells had expanded. This was accompanied by activation of fatty-acid transport and oxidation, and by greater expression and activity of superoxide dismutase — a cardioprotective, free-radical-scavenging enzyme — in the heart.
The authors also identified a combination of fatty acids in postprandial python blood that promoted healthy cardiac growth when injected into both pythons and mice. This might offer a therapeutic approach for diseased human hearts.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fats boost python hearts after meal. Nature 479, 9 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/479009a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/479009a
