On the importance of fat cell size, location and signaling in insulin resistance

• Obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide and is associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. During the past decades, substantial evidence has demonstrated that not only the amount of adipose tissue constitutes a major determinant in the development of metabolic disorders, but also the distribution. The visceral adipose tissue has shown to be stronger correlated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease than the subcutaneous depot. When we measured the activity of the nuclear receptor PPARγ in visceral and subcutaneous adipocytes, we found considerably lower activity in fat cells obtained from the visceral portion. This finding provides additional evidence to the unfavorable consequences of visceral obesity. The common PPARγ polymorphism Pro12Ala was studied in type 2 diabetic patients. We found that men with the Ala isoform exhibited higher sagittal abdominal diameter, waist circumference and body weight compared with homozygotes for the Pro isoform. However, no differences in either gender with regard to blood pressure or markers of cardiovascular disease and organ damage could be observed.In addition to an excessive visceral adipose tissue mass, obese subjects with enlarged adipocytes display an increased risk for developing metabolic disorders compared with individuals exhibiting smaller fat cells but a similar degree of adiposity. The insulin responsiveness in small and large adipocytes obtained from the same subject was examined. Upon insulin stimulation, we found approximately a 2 fold increase of GLUT4 at the plasma membrane in small adipocytes, whereas the large fat cells were refractory to insulin induced GLUT4 translocation. This finding demonstrates a causal relationship between the accumulation of large fat cells in obese subjects and reduced insulin responsiveness.Caloric restriction in humans ameliorates insulin responsiveness in liver and muscle prior to any substantial weight loss. By combining gene expression profiles of adipose tissue and adipocytes from human subjects undergoing either caloric restriction or overfeeding, we identified genes regulated by changes in caloric intake independent of weight loss per se. We found several genes under the control of mTOR and SREBP1 as well as genes involved in β-oxidation, liberation of fatty acids and glyceroneogenesis to be regulated during the interventions. These genes may indicate pathways and mechanisms mediating the effects of nutrient deprivation and obesity on morbidity and mortality.

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