A saturated fatty acid rich diet can induce an 'obese-like' gene expression profile in adipose tissue

We investigated the effect of a saturated (SFA) and a monounsaturated (MUFA) rich diet on insulin sensitivity and adipose tissue gene expression profiles of subjects at risk for metabolic syndrome. A controlled-feeding trial was performed with 20 moderately overweight subjects. Subjects received a SFA-rich or a MUFA-rich diet for 8 weeks. Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained and insulin sensitivity was measured. Whole genome micro-array analysis was performed on the adipose tissue samples. Consumption of a SFA-rich diet resulted in a pro-inflammatory 'obese-like' gene expression profile while consumption of a MUFA-rich diet caused a more anti-inflammatory profile. This suggests that replacement of dietary SFA by MUFA could prevent adipose tissue inflammation and may reduce the risk for inflammation related diseases such as the metabolic syndrome. In a parallel controlled feeding trial, subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were collected from moderately overweight human subjects at baseline and after 8 weeks consumption of either SFA-rich or MUFA-rich diets. RNA was isolated from the samples using Trizol and the Qiagen RNeasy Micro kit (Qiagen, Venlo, the Netherlands). RNA was was labeled using a one-cycle cDNA labeling kit (MessageAmpTM II-Biotin Enhanced Kit, Ambion, Inc.) and hybridized to Affymetrix NuGO_Hs1a52018 arrays.