The subcutaneous adipose transcriptome identifies a molecular signature of insulin resistance shared with visceral adipose
Authors' conclusion
SAT is conventionally viewed as a metabolic buffer for lipid deposition during positive energy balance, whereas VAT is viewed as a dominant contributor to and prime mediator of IR and cardiometabolic disease risk. Our results implicate a dynamic transcriptional architecture of IR that resides in both immune and non-immune populations in SAT and is shared with VAT, nuancing the current VAT-centric concept of IR in humans.
Study context
- Population
- Humans across the spectrum of obesity with metabolic phenotyping
- Participants
- 220 participants
- Outcome
- Transcriptional landscape of insulin resistance (IR) in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT)
Methodological detailsSubcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) RNA sequencing, metabolic phenotyping
- SAT RNA sequencing
- Metabolic phenotyping
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- 35-gene signature with high predictive accuracy for HOMA-IR, expressed across a variety of non-immune cell populations
- Primarily "protective" insulin resistance (IR) associations for adipocyte transcripts and "deleterious" associations for macrophage transcripts
- High concordance between SAT and visceral adipose tissue (VAT)
Further findings
Dynamic SAT gene expression · 5 years after weight loss surgery
- Multiple SAT genes exhibited dynamic expression 5 years after weight loss surgery and with insulin stimulation
Genetic effects (expression quantitative trait loci) of SAT and VAT on T2D and BMI
- Similar genetic effect sizes of SAT and VAT on T2D and BMI
Original publication
The subcutaneous adipose transcriptome identifies a molecular signature of insulin resistance shared with visceral adipose. Obesity (Silver Spring). Published 5 July 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →