Decreased lipogenesis-promoting factors in adipose tissue in postmenopausal women with overweight on a Paleolithic-type diet.

PURPOSE: We studied effects of diet-induced postmenopausal weight loss on gene expression and activity of proteins involved in lipogenesis and lipolysis in adipose tissue. METHODS: Fifty-eight postmenopausal women with overweight (BMI 32.5 ± 5.5) were randomized to eat an ad libitum Paleolithic-type diet (PD) aiming for a high intake of protein and unsaturated fatty acids or a prudent control diet (CD) for 24 months. Anthropometry, plasma adipokines, gene expression of proteins involved in fat metabolism in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity and mass in SAT were measured at baseline and after 6 months. LPL mass and activity were also measured after 24 months. RESULTS: The PD led to improved insulin sensitivity (P < 0.01) and decreased circulating triglycerides (P < 0.001), lipogenesis-related factors, including LPL mRNA (P < 0.05), mass (P < 0.01), and activity (P < 0.001); as well as gene expressions of CD36 (P < 0.05), fatty acid synthase, FAS (P < 0.001) and diglyceride acyltransferase 2, DGAT2 (P < 0.001). The LPL activity (P < 0.05) and gene expression of DGAT2 (P < 0.05) and FAS (P < 0.05) were significantly lowered in the PD group versus the CD group at 6 months and the LPL activity (P < 0.05) remained significantly lowered in the PD group compared to the CD group at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the CD, the PD led to a more pronounced reduction of lipogenesis-promoting factors in SAT among postmenopausal women with overweight. This could have mediated the favorable metabolic effects of the PD on triglyceride levels and insulin sensitivity.

Attenuated Low-Grade Inflammation Following Long-Term Dietary Intervention in Postmenopausal Women with Obesity.

OBJECTIVE: Abdominal fat accumulation after menopause is associated with low-grade inflammation and increased risk of metabolic disorders. Effective long-term lifestyle treatment is therefore needed. METHODS: Seventy healthy postmenopausal women (age 60 ± 5.6 years) with BMI 32.5 ± 5.5 were randomized to a Paleolithic-type diet (PD) or a prudent control diet (CD) for 24 months. Blood samples and fat biopsies were collected at baseline, 6 months, and 24 months to analyze inflammation-related parameters. RESULTS: Android fat decreased significantly more in the PD group (P = 0.009) during the first 6 months with weight maintenance at 24 months in both groups. Long-term significant effects (P < 0.001) on adipose gene expression were found for toll-like receptor 4 (decreased at 24 months) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (increased at 24 months) in both groups. Serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α levels were decreased at 24 months in both groups (P < 0.001) with a significant diet-by-time interaction for serum IL-6 (P = 0.022). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein was decreased in the PD group at 24 months (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A reduction of abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women is linked to specific changes in inflammation-related adipose gene expression.

No difference in markers of adipose tissue inflammation between overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome and weight-matched controls.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND; Previous studies have indicated that peripheral circulating markers of inflammation are elevated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but thus far no studies concerning markers of inflammation in adipose tissue have been published. The aim of the study was to investigate whether patients with PCOS display increased expression of inflammatory markers in adipose tissue. METHODS: Twenty overweight patients with PCOS, 10 lean patients with PCOS and 20 overweight controls had subcutaneous fat biopsies and blood samples taken. Adipose tissue levels of mRNA of inflammatory markers were determined by use of real-time PCR. RESULTS: Overweight patients with PCOS had higher relative adipose tissue chemokine ligand 2 (P < 0.01), and its cognate receptor (P < 0.05), tumour necrosis factor-α (P < 0.001), interleukin (IL)-10 (P < 0.001) and IL-18 (P < 0.001) and the monocyte/macrophage markers CD14 (P < 0.01) and CD163 (P < 0.01) mRNA levels compared with lean women with PCOS. There were no differences between overweight patients with PCOS and overweight control subjects in this respect. Within the PCOS group, markers of adipose tissue inflammation correlated significantly with obesity-related metabolic disturbances, but when data were adjusted for age and BMI, most correlations were lost. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight, rather than the PCOS diagnosis per se, appears to be the main explanatory variable for elevated adipose tissue inflammation in patients with PCOS.

Depot- and ethnic-specific differences in the relationship between adipose tissue inflammation and insulin sensitivity.

OBJECTIVE: It is unclear whether there are differences in inflammatory gene expression between abdominal and gluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and between black and white women. We therefore tested the hypotheses that SAT inflammatory gene expression is greater in the abdominal compared to the gluteal depot, and SAT inflammatory gene expression is associated with differential insulin sensitivity (S(I) ) in black and white women. DESIGN AND METHODS: S(I) (frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test) and abdominal SAT and gluteal SAT gene expression levels of 13 inflammatory genes were measured in normal-weight (BMI 18-25 kg/m²) and obese (BMI >30 kg/m²) black (n = 30) and white (n = 26) South African women. RESULTS: Black women had higher abdominal and gluteal SAT expression of CCL2, CD68, TNF-α and CSF-1 compared to white women (P < 0·01). Multivariate analysis showed that inflammatory gene expression in the white women explained 56·8% of the variance in S(I) (P < 0·005), compared to 20·9% in black women (P = 0·30). Gluteal SAT had lower expression of adiponectin, but higher expression of inflammatory cytokines, macrophage markers and leptin than abdominal SAT depots (P < 0·05). CONCLUSIONS: Black South African women had higher inflammatory gene expression levels than white women; however, the relationship between AT inflammation and S(I) was stronger in white compared to black women. Further research is required to explore other factors affecting S(I) in black populations. Contrary to our original hypothesis, gluteal SAT had a greater inflammatory gene expression profile than abdominal SAT depots. The protective nature of gluteo-femoral fat therefore requires further investigation.