The Association of Vaspin Gene Expression in Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues with Dietary Fatty Acids in Obese and Non-Obese Individuals

Vaspin is an adipokine that reduces insulin resistance and obesity. There is little evidence suggesting an association between diet and plasma vaspin levels, and no studies have investigated the vaspin gene expression. The current study aimed to investigate the association of dietary fatty acid (FAs) intake with vaspin gene expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues (ATs) among obese and non-obese individuals.

Visceral and subcutaneous ATs were obtained from 50 obese and 47 non-obese individuals with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 and BMI <30kg/m2, respectively, who underwent open abdominal surgery. The dietary intake was evaluated using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and the daily intake of FAs, including total dietary fat, saturated FAs, monounsaturated FAs, and polyunsaturated FAs, was calculated. The relative expression of vaspin gene in ATs was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using SYBR® Green.

The mean±SD of BMI in obese and non-obese subjects was 41.4±5.87 and 24.8±2.86 kg/m2, respectively. Comparison of vaspin gene expression in visceral and subcutaneous ATs of obese and non-obese individuals. showed higher expression leveles in the subcutaneous AT of obese individuals (P<0.034). In obese subjects, the dietary intake of polyunsaturated FAs (r=0.28, P=0.05) had a marginally significant positive association with vaspin gene expression in the visceral AT.

The results of the present study showed that vaspin gene expression was only higher in the subcutaneous AT of obese individuals as compared to non-obese subjects. There was no significant association between dietary FAs and vaspin gene expression. Therefore, further extensive studies are necessary to determine the underlying mechanism of the effect of vaspin on insulin resistance and to illustrate the possible role of dietary FAs in this regard.