Gender-Specific Mechanisms Underlying the Amelioration of High-Fat Diet-Induced Glucose Intolerance in B-Cell-Activating Factor Deficient Mice

It has recently been found that B cell activating factor (BAFF) plays an important role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. We also have previously reported that BAFF deficiency reverses high-fat (HF) diet-induced glucose intolerance by potentiating adipose tissue function. In the present study, we found that BAFF deficient (BAFF-/-) mice exhibit gender-specific differences in protection against diet-induced glucose intolerance, and aimed to characterize the gender-dependent molecular alterations in energy metabolism. Under HF feeding conditions, serum BAFF level of female wild-type (WT) mice was considerably higher than that of male mice. Despite increased body weight gain, both male and female BAFF-/- mice showed significantly improved glucose tolerance compared to their WT counterparts. Expressions of genes involved in glucose transport, thermogenesis and lipid oxidation were up-regulated in brown adipose tissues of both male and female BAFF-/- mice. Interestingly, the expression of thermogenic genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue was significantly enhanced in female BAFF-/- compared to WT mice, but the difference was not observed between male BAFF-/- and WT mice. The enhanced thermogenic program was confirmed by higher protein levels of UCP1 and irisin in female BAFF-/- than in WT mice. Additionally, adiponectin production in white adipose tissues and AMPK phosphorylation in subcutaneous adipose tissue were also significantly elevated in female BAFF-/- compared to WT mice, but not in male BAFF-/- mice. Our findings define a comprehensive scenario for the enhancing effect of BAFF depletion on glucose tolerance wherein the underlying mechanism is, at least in part, gender-specific, and suggest that gender difference should be considered as an important factor in the use of BAFF blockade as a therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.