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Sleeve Gastrectomy Reduces Hepatic Steatosis by Improving the Coordinated Regulation of Aquaglyceroporins in Adipose Tissue and Liver in Obese Rats

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Abstract

Background

Glycerol constitutes an important metabolite for the control of lipid accumulation and glucose homeostasis. Our aim was to investigate the potential role of aquaglyceroporins, which are glycerol channels mediating glycerol efflux in adipocytes (AQP3 and AQP7) and glycerol influx (AQP9) in hepatocytes, in the improvement of adiposity and hepatic steatosis after sleeve gastrectomy in an experimental model of diet-induced obesity (DIO).

Methods

Male Wistar DIO rats (n = 161) were subjected to surgical (sham operation and sleeve gastrectomy) or dietary interventions [fed ad libitum a normal diet (ND) or a high-fat diet (HFD) or pair-fed to the amount of food eaten by sleeve-gastrectomized animals]. The tissue distribution and expression of AQPs in biopsies of epididymal (EWAT) and subcutaneous (SCWAT) white adipose tissue and liver were analyzed by real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry.

Results

Four weeks after surgery, DIO rats undergoing sleeve gastrectomy showed a reduction in body weight, whole-body adiposity, and hepatic steatosis. DIO was associated with a tendency towards an increase in EWAT AQP3 and SCWAT AQP7 and a decrease in hepatic AQP9. Sleeve gastrectomy downregulated AQP7 in both fat depots and upregulated AQP3 in EWAT, without changing hepatic AQP9. Aqp7 transcript levels in EWAT and SCWAT were positively associated with adiposity and glycemia, while Aqp9 mRNA was negatively correlated with markers of hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance.

Conclusion

Our results show, for the first time, that sleeve gastrectomy, a widely applied bariatric surgery procedure, restores the coordinated regulation of fat-specific AQP7 and liver-specific AQP9, thereby improving whole-body adiposity and hepatic steatosis.

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Abbreviations

Adipo-IR:

Adipocyte insulin resistance index

AQP:

Aquaporin

CSA:

Cell surface area

DIO:

Diet-induced obesity

EWAT:

Epididymal white adipose tissue

FFA:

Free fatty acids

GK:

Glycerol kinase

HFD:

High-fat diet

HOMA:

Homeostasis model assessment

NAFLD:

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

ND:

Normal diet

PPARγ:

Peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor γ

QUICKI:

Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index

RT:

Room temperature

SCWAT:

Subcutaneous white adipose tissue

SREBF1:

Sterol regulatory element-binding factor 1

TG:

Triacylglycerol

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the valuable collaboration of all the staff of the breeding house of the University of Navarra.

Conflict of Interest

L.M.-G., S.B., R.M., V.V., B.R., A.L., J.G., I.B., J.A.C., V.C., S.F., J.G.-A., A.R., and G.F. declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human participants.

Funding

This work was supported by Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria-FEDER (FIS PI10/01677, PI12/00515, and PI13/01430) from the Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Department of Health of the Gobierno de Navarra (61/2014) as well as by the Plan de Investigación de la Universidad de Navarra (project PIUNA 2011–14). CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn) is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metabolic Research Laboratory, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Leire Méndez-Giménez, Sara Becerril, Beatriz Ramírez, Andoni Lancha, Javier Gurbindo, Inmaculada Balaguer, Victoria Catalán, Javier Gómez-Ambrosi, Amaia Rodríguez & Gema Frühbeck

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Rafael Moncada

  3. Department of Surgery, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Víctor Valentí & Javier A. Cienfuegos

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Secundino Fernández

  5. Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Avda. Pío XII, 36, 31008, Pamplona, Spain

    Gema Frühbeck

  6. Obesity and Adipobiology Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IDISNA), Pamplona, Spain

    Leire Méndez-Giménez, Sara Becerril, Rafael Moncada, Víctor Valentí, Beatriz Ramírez, Javier A. Cienfuegos, Victoria Catalán, Javier Gómez-Ambrosi, Amaia Rodríguez & Gema Frühbeck

  7. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Pamplona, Spain

    Leire Méndez-Giménez, Sara Becerril, Rafael Moncada, Víctor Valentí, Beatriz Ramírez, Javier A. Cienfuegos, Victoria Catalán, Javier Gómez-Ambrosi, Amaia Rodríguez & Gema Frühbeck

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  1. Leire Méndez-Giménez
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Correspondence to Gema Frühbeck.

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Méndez-Giménez, L., Becerril, S., Moncada, R. et al. Sleeve Gastrectomy Reduces Hepatic Steatosis by Improving the Coordinated Regulation of Aquaglyceroporins in Adipose Tissue and Liver in Obese Rats. OBES SURG 25, 1723–1734 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1612-z

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