Expression of the growth hormone receptor isoforms and its correlation with the metabolic profile in morbidly obese subjects

• Published in: Endocrine Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 573 - 581
• Main Authors: Espinosa, Etual, Salame, Latife, Marrero-Rodriguez, Daniel, Romero-Nieves, Andy-Michel, Cuenca, Dalia, Castelan-Martínez, Osvaldo-Daniel, Mendoza, Victoria, Ponce-Navarrete, Gustavo, Salcedo, Mauricio, Luque-Leòn, Enrique, Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Arturo, Mercado, Moisés
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adult; Diabetes; Endocrinology; Female; Gastrointestinal surgery; Gene polymorphism; Genotype & phenotype; Genotyping; Growth hormones; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Internal Medicine; Isoforms; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolism; Middle Aged; mRNA; multidisciplinary; Obesity; Obesity, Morbid - metabolism; Original Article; Primers; Protein Isoforms - genetics; Protein Isoforms - metabolism; Receptors, Somatotropin - genetics; Receptors, Somatotropin - metabolism; Science; Surgery; GH; Adipose tissue; Morbid obesity; Metabolic syndrome; Exon 3 GHR; GH Receptor
• ISSN: 1355-008X; 1559-0100; 1559-0100
• DOI: 10.1007/s12020-018-1794-y

Background and aim of the study Given the lipolytic effect of GH and its potential role in determining adipose tissue distribution, we evaluated the expression of the GH hormone receptor (GHR) isoforms in patients with morbid obesity seeking associations with metabolic parameters. Methods 262 morbidly obese subjects (mean age 42.5 ± 11 years, 75% women) underwent PCR-genotyping of the exon 3 GHR polymorphism. In 17 of these subjects, who proved to be heterozygous for the exon 3 genotype (+3/−3), subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue was obtained during bariatric surgery; total RNA was extracted, reversely transcribed, and the different isoforms of the GHR (exon 3 containing and lacking flGHR as well as the trGHR) were PCR-amplified using specific primers. Results 27% were +3/+3 homozygous, 20% −3/−3 homozygous and 53% were +3/−3 heterozygous. Compared to subjects homozygous for the +3 genotype, homozygous and heterozygous carriers of the −3 genotype were significantly heavier and tended to have a higher HOMA 2-IR. Expression of the flGHR and trGHR mRNA was demonstrated in all evaluated samples of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue from the 17 patients. The exon 3+ isoform was expressed in all adipose tissue samples, whereas only six subjects expressed the 3− isoform as well. The only distinctive feature of these six patients was a higher HbA1c. Conclusions The heterozygous GHR +3/−3 genotype is more prevalent in subjects with morbid obesity. Patients expressing the exon +3 and exon −3 isoforms in adipose tissue had a higher HbA1c, than those expressing only the exon −3 isoform.