Adipose tissue fatty acid storage factors: effects of depot, sex and fat cell size

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2015-06, Vol.39 (6), p.884-887
• Main Authors: Hames, K C, Koutsari, C, Santosa, S, Bush, N C, Jensen, M D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/443/319/2723; 692/698/690/2816; 82/80; Abdomen; Acetyltransferase; Adipocytes; Adipocytes - pathology; Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adipose Tissue - pathology; Adipose tissues; Adult; Biopsy; Body composition; Body fat; Body Fat Distribution; Body mass index; Body size; CD36 antigen; CD36 Antigens - metabolism; Cell Size; Computed tomography; Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase; Diglycerides; Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; Energy measurement; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Epidemiology; Fat metabolism; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Female; Females; Femur; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Internal Medicine; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Male; Males; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Metabolism; Middle Aged; original-article; Physiological aspects; Physiological research; Proteins; Public Health; Quartiles; Sex; Sex differences; Sex Factors; Sexes; Subcutaneous Fat - metabolism; Subcutaneous Fat - pathology; Tomography; Transport; Triglycerides; Triglycerides - metabolism
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2015.10

Background/objectives: Patterns of postabsorptive adipose tissue fatty acid storage correlate with sex-specific body fat distribution. Some proteins and enzymes participating in this pathway include CD36 (facilitated transport), acyl-CoA synthetase (ACS; the first step in fat metabolism) and diacylglycerol acetyltransferase (DGAT; the final step of triglyceride synthesis). Our aim was to better define CD36, ACS and DGAT in relation to sex, subcutaneous fat depots and adipocyte size. Subjects/methods: Data were collected from studies conducted at Mayo Clinic between 2004 and 2012. Abdominal and femoral subcutaneous fat biopsy samples must have been collected in the postabsorptive state from healthy males and premenopausal females. Body composition was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and abdominal computerized tomography scans. Adipocyte size (microscopy), CD36 protein content (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and ACS and DGAT enzyme activities were measured. Data are presented as medians and 25th, 75th quartiles. Results: Males ( n =60) and females ( n =78) did not differ by age (37; 28, 46 years), body mass index (28.4; 24.6, 32.1 kg m − 2 ) or abdominal (0.60; 0.45, 0.83 μg lipid per cell) and femoral adipocyte size (0.76; 0.60, 0.94 μg lipid per cell). Femoral ACS and DGAT were greater in females than males when expressed per mg lipid (ACS: 73 vs 55 pmol/mg lipid/min; DGAT: 5.5 vs 4.0 pmol/mg lipid/min; P