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  • Original Article
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Permanence of molecular features of obesity in subcutaneous adipose tissue of ex-obese subjects

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 867–873 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 11 June 2013

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objective:

Bariatric surgery represents a powerful tool for morbid obesity treatment. However, after stabilization of weight loss that follows surgical interventions, ex-obese patients face the problem of residual tissues removal. Actually, it is unknown whether the characteristics of this residual subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) are ‘restored’ with regard to molecular and morphological features.

Design:

To clarify this issue, we compared the SAT gene expression profile of ex-obese patients (ExOB-SAT, mean body mass index (BMI): 27.2±1.3 kg m−2) with that of lean (normal weight, NW-SAT, mean BMI: 22.6±1.1 kg m−2), overweight (OW-SAT, BMI: 27.65±0.2 kg m−2) and obese patients, according to BMI classes (OB1-SAT: 30⩾BMI⩽34.9, OB2-SAT: 35⩾BMI⩽39.9, OB3-SAT: BMI⩾40).

Subjects and Methods:

A total of 58 samples of SAT were collected during surgical interventions. Gene expression levels were assessed by microarrays and significant genes were validated by RT–qPCR. Adipocyte hypertrophy, inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis were assessed by morphological techniques.

Results:

Global gene expression in ExOB-SAT was closely related to gene expression of OB3-SAT by hierarchical clustering procedures, in spite of different BMI. Metallothioneins (MT1A and MT2A) were the key over-expressed genes in both groups. At morphologic level, adipocyte hypertrophy and inflammatory infiltration improved after weight loss in ExOB-SAT, despite a persistence of fibrosis.

Conclusions:

Taken together, these results demonstrate that SAT gene expression is not fully restored, even after an extensive and stable weight loss. The persistence of ‘obesity molecular features’ in ExOB-SAT suggests that the molecular signature of adipose tissue is not solely dependent on weight loss and may need longer time period to completely disappear.

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Change history

  • 11 June 2013

    This article has been corrected since online publication and a corrigendum is also printed in this issue.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Laura Ermellino and Anna Rita Grindati for technical assistance with adipose tissue samples processing for morphology studies, as well as Dr M Besozzi for the free access to Anatomo-pathology Laboratory facilities at the Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, IRCCS, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Milano, Italy

    R Cancello, D Gentilini, M Mencarelli & A M Di Blasio

  2. Department of Medical Sciences and Rehabilitation, IRCCS, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

    A Zulian & C Invitti

  3. Department of Surgery, Casa di Cura Igea, Milan, Italy

    A Della Barba

  4. Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Pisa, Italy

    M Maffei

  5. Institute of Food Sciences, CNR, Avellino, Italy

    M Maffei

  6. Department of Endocrinology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    M Maffei & P Vitti

  7. Division of General Medicine, IRCCS, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Ospedale S. Giuseppe, Verbania, Italy

    A Liuzzi

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  1. R Cancello
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Correspondence to R Cancello.

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Cancello, R., Zulian, A., Gentilini, D. et al. Permanence of molecular features of obesity in subcutaneous adipose tissue of ex-obese subjects. Int J Obes 37, 867–873 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.7

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