Resistin is expressed in different rat tissues and is regulated in a tissue- and gender-specific manner

• Published in: FEBS letters 2003-07, Vol.548 (1-3), p.21-27
• Main Authors: Nogueiras, Rubén, Gallego, Rosalía, Gualillo, Oreste, Caminos, J.Eduardo, García-Caballero, Tomás, Casanueva, Felipe F., Diéguez, Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Fasting; Female; Food Deprivation; Gender; Gene Expression Regulation; Hormones, Ectopic - metabolism; Immunohistochemistry; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Male; Nerve Growth Factor; Obesity; Organ Specificity; Proteins; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Resistin; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Sex Factors; Sexual Abstinence; Tissue Distribution
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(03)00708-7

Resistin is a polypeptide hormone first reported from human and rodent adipocytes. In order to better define the potential biological role of resistin we undertook a detailed analysis of its expression in different rat tissues. We demonstrate by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Southern blotting and immunohistochemistry that resistin is expressed not only in brown and white adipose tissue, but also in the stomach, small and large intestines, adrenal gland, and skeletal muscle. Food deprivation led to a decrease in resistin mRNA expression only in adipose tissue, not in any of the other tissues studied. Furthermore, resistin mRNA expression is higher in males than in females in adipose tissue, not in any of the other tissues. Thus, our data suggest that resistin is not exclusively localized in adipocytes, and indicate that its expression is regulated in a tissue- and sex-specific manner.