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Influence of Morbid Obesity and Insulin Resistance on Gene Expression Levels of AQP7 in Visceral Adipose Tissue and AQP9 in Liver

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Abstract

Background

Glycerol production and its efflux from adipocytes to the liver are key to modulate lipid and glucose homeostasis. Aquaporin 7 (AQP7) is an aquaglyceroporin that acts as the adipose glycerol channel, whereas aquaporin 9 (AQP9) is the specific channel operating in the liver. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on gene expression levels of AQP7 in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and AQP9 in liver.

Methods

VAT and liver biopsies obtained from 20 women were used in the study. Patients were classified as lean or obese with the last group being further subclassified as normoglycemic (NG), patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or with T2DM. Anthropometric measurements as well as circulating metabolites, hormones, and adipokines were determined. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses were performed to quantify transcript levels of AQP7 in VAT and AQP9 in the liver.

Results

Gene expression levels of AQP7 in VAT showed a tendency toward an increase (P = 0.065) in obese patients (both NG and T2DM) compared to lean subjects. AQP9 showed a significant downregulation in the hepatic biopsies obtained from obese T2DM patients compared to obese NG and IGT patients (P = 0.028).

Conclusion

The tendency toward an elevation of mRNA expression of VAT AQP7 in obesity together with the decreased hepatic AQP9 expression observed in obese T2DM subjects suggests a potential role in facilitating glycerol release from adipose tissue and reducing glycerol entry into hepatocytes in obesity and T2DM, respectively.

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Abbreviations

BF:

body fat percentage

BMI:

body mass index

AQP7:

aquaporin 7

AQP9:

aquaporin 9

NG:

normoglycemic

OGTT:

oral glucose tolerance test

T2DM:

type 2 diabetes mellitus

VAT:

visceral adipose tissue

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by FIS PI030381, PI061458, and PI06/90288 from the Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo and by the Department of Health of the Gobierno de Navarra (48/2003 and 20/2005) of Spain. The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable collaboration of the surgery assistant nurses and the members of the Multidisciplinary Obesity Team. CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrción (CIBEROBN) is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metabolic Research Laboratory, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Victoria Catalán, Javier Gómez-Ambrosi, Amaia Rodríguez & Gema Frühbeck

  2. Department of Surgery, Clínica Universitaria de NavarraUniversity of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Carlos Pastor, Fernando Rotellar & Javier A. Cienfuegos

  3. Department of Endocrinology, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, University of Navarra, Avda. Pío XII, 36, 31008, Pamplona, Spain

    Camilo Silva, Javier Salvador & Gema Frühbeck

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    María J. Gil

  5. Endocrinology and Research Unit, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain

    Joan Vendrell

  6. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Victoria Catalán, Javier Gómez-Ambrosi, Fernando Rotellar, Camilo Silva, Amaia Rodríguez, María J. Gil, Javier A. Cienfuegos, Javier Salvador & Gema Frühbeck

  7. CIBER Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Joan Vendrell

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  1. Victoria Catalán
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  2. Javier Gómez-Ambrosi
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  4. Fernando Rotellar
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  5. Camilo Silva
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  8. Javier A. Cienfuegos
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  9. Javier Salvador
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  11. Gema Frühbeck
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gema Frühbeck.

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Catalán, V., Gómez-Ambrosi, J., Pastor, C. et al. Influence of Morbid Obesity and Insulin Resistance on Gene Expression Levels of AQP7 in Visceral Adipose Tissue and AQP9 in Liver. OBES SURG 18, 695–701 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-008-9453-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-008-9453-7

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