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Clinical Studies and Practice

Hepatic CD36 downregulation parallels steatosis improvement in morbidly obese undergoing bariatric surgery

International Journal of Obesity volume 41, pages 1388–1393 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

The notion that hepatic expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism is altered in obese patients is relatively new and its relationship with hepatic steatosis and cardiometabolic alterations remains unclear.

Objective:

We assessed the impact of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) on the expression profile of genes related to metabolic syndrome in liver biopsies from morbidly obese individuals using a custom-made, focused cDNA microarray, and assessed the relationship between the expression profile and hepatic steatosis regression.

Materials and methods:

Plasma and liver samples were obtained from patients at baseline and 12 months after surgery. Samples were assayed for chemical and gene expression analyses, as appropriate. Gene expression profiles were assessed using custom-made, focused TaqMan low-density array cards.

Results:

RYGB-induced weight loss produced a favorable reduction in fat deposits, insulin resistance (estimated by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)), and plasma and hepatic lipid levels. Compared with the baseline values, the gene expression levels of key targets of lipid metabolism were significantly altered: CD36 was significantly downregulated (−40%; P=0.001), whereas APOB (+27%; P=0.032) and SCARB1 (+37%; P=0.040) were upregulated in response to surgery-induced weight reduction. We also observed a favorable reduction in the expression of the PAI1 gene (−80%; P=0.007) and a significant increase in the expression of the PPARA (+60%; P=0.014) and PPARGC1 genes (+36%; P=0.015). Notably, the relative fold decrease in the expression of the CD36 gene was directly associated with a concomitant reduction in the cholesterol (Spearman’s r=0.92; P=0.001) and phospholipid (Spearman’s r=0.76; P=0.04) contents in this tissue.

Conclusions:

For the first time, RYGB-induced weight loss was shown to promote a favorable downregulation of CD36 expression, which was proportional to a favorable reduction in the hepatic cholesterol and phospholipid contents in our morbidly obese subjects following surgery.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) FIS grants CP13/00070 (to JJ) and PI11/01159 and PI15/00190 (to JP-O), and FEDER ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’; and by LaMarató 2016 (303/C/2016) (to JJ). JJ is recipient of a Miguel Servet Type 1 contract (CP13/00070; ISCIII). KAM-L is recipient of a AGAUR grant FI-DGR2014 (Generalitat de Catalunya). CIBER de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM) is a project of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau is accredited by the Generalitat de Catalunya as Centre de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA). The English grammar and language was corrected by American Journal Experts (www.aje.com).

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Author notes

  1. J Julve and J Peinado-Onsurbe: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Bioquímica i Biomedicina Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    E Pardina, J Rossell, D Ricart-Jané & J Peinado-Onsurbe

  2. Unitat d’Hormones, Servei de Bioquímica, Hospital Universitari de la Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

    R Ferrer

  3. Institut de Recerca de l’Hospital de La Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, IIB-Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain

    K A Méndez-Lara & J Julve

  4. Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    K A Méndez-Lara & J Julve

  5. Unitat de Cirurgia, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida, Spain

    J A Baena-Fustegueras

  6. Departament d’Endocrinologia i Nutrició, Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

    A Lecube

  7. Unitat de Recerca en Diabetes i Metabolisme, Institut de Recerca Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

    A Lecube

  8. CIBER de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas, CIBERDEM, Barcelona, Spain

    A Lecube & J Julve

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  1. E Pardina
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Pardina, E., Ferrer, R., Rossell, J. et al. Hepatic CD36 downregulation parallels steatosis improvement in morbidly obese undergoing bariatric surgery. Int J Obes 41, 1388–1393 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.115

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