Dietary medium-chain saturated fatty acids induce gene expression of energy metabolism-related pathways in adipose tissue of abdominally obese subjects

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2017-09, Vol.41 (9), p.1348-1354
• Main Authors: Matualatupauw, J C, Bohl, M, Gregersen, S, Hermansen, K, Afman, L A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/208/212/2130; 631/443/319/333/1465; 631/80/86/2369; 692/308; 692/699/2743/393; Accumulation; Adipogenesis - physiology; Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adult; Afdeling Humane voeding; Animal fat; Body fat; Body weight gain; Casein; Caseins - metabolism; Chains; Chair Nutrition Metabolism and Genomics; Citric acid; Complement system; DNA microarrays; Double-Blind Method; Double-blind studies; Energy Intake - physiology; Energy metabolism; Energy Metabolism - physiology; Epidemiology; Factorial design; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression; Genomes; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; HNE Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics; HNE Voeding, Metabolisme en Genomics; Host Microbe Interactomics; Human Nutrition; Human Nutrition & Health; Human Nutrition (HNE); Humane Voeding; Humane Voeding & Gezondheid; Humans; Inflammation; Internal Medicine; Intra-Abdominal Fat - metabolism; Leerstoelgroep Host Microbe Interactomics; Long-term effects; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Metabolism; Milk; Milk Proteins - chemistry; Milk Proteins - metabolism; Molecular modelling; Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics; Obesity; Obesity, Abdominal - metabolism; Oils & fats; original-article; Oxidative phosphorylation; Phosphorylation; Physiological aspects; Population studies; Proteins; Public Health; Saturated fatty acids; Tricarboxylic acid cycle; VLAG; Voeding, Metabolisme en Genomica; Whey
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2017.120

Background: Dietary medium-chain saturated fatty acids (MC-SFAs) have been shown to reduce total body fat. Previously, we showed that MC-SFAs prevent body fat accumulation, despite weight gain. Here, we aim to explore potential molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effect of MC-SFAs on body fat gain. Methods: The DairyHealth study examined the long-term effects of milk protein and milk fat with a low or high content of MC-SFA. In this 12 week, randomized, double-blind, diet intervention study, participants consumed 60 g milk protein (whey or casein) and 63 g milk fat (high MC-SFA or low MC-SFA) daily in a two by two factorial design. We used microarrays to measure whole genome gene expression changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue in a subpopulation of 12 participants, 6 in the low MC-SFA+casein group and 6 in the high MC-SFA+casein group. Gene expression of several genes that were found to be changed by MC-SFAs was confirmed in the full study population using qPCR. Results: High MC-SFA resulted in an upregulation of gene expression related to citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, and a downregulation of gene expression related to complement system and inflammation. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the beneficial effects of MC-SFAs on prevention of fat accumulation are mediated via increased gene expression related to energy metabolism in the adipose tissue. Decreases in inflammation-related gene expression may have beneficial effects in relation to cardiometabolic diseases.