Abdominal Fat SIRT6 Expression and Its Relationship with Inflammatory and Metabolic Pathways in Pre-Diabetic Overweight Patients

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 20; no. 5; p. 1153
• Main Authors: D’Onofrio, Nunzia, Pieretti, Gorizio, Ciccarelli, Feliciano, Gambardella, Antonio, Passariello, Nicola, Rizzo, Maria Rosaria, Barbieri, Michelangela, Marfella, Raffaele, Nicoletti, Gianfranco, Balestrieri, Maria Luisa, Sardu, Celestino
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.03.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal Fat - metabolism; Adipocytes; Adult; Cardiovascular disease; Communication; Diabetes; Diet; Down-Regulation - drug effects; Female; Glucose; Homeostasis; Humans; Inflammation; Insulin resistance; Lipids; Male; Metabolism; Metformin - administration & dosage; Metformin - pharmacology; Middle Aged; NF-kappa B - metabolism; Obesity; Overweight - drug therapy; Overweight - metabolism; Oxidative stress; PPAR gamma - metabolism; Prediabetic State - drug therapy; Prediabetic State - metabolism; Prospective Studies; Protein expression; Proteins; Sirtuins - metabolism; Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1 - metabolism; Studies; Surgery; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; NF-κB; pre-diabetes; sirtuin 6; SREBP-1; PPAR-γ; obesity
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms20051153

The role of sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) in adipose abdominal tissue of pre-diabetic (pre-DM) patients is poorly known. Here, we evaluated SIRT6 expression in visceral abdominal fat of obese pre-diabetic patients and the potential effects of metformin therapy. Results indicated that obese pre-DM subjects showed low SIRT6 protein expression and high expression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), and sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 1 (SREBP-1). Obese pre-DM patients showed high values of glucose, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), C reactive protein (CRP), nitrotyrosine, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), and low values of insulin (p < 0.05). Of note, abdominal fat tissue of obese pre-DM patients treated with metformin therapy presented higher SIRT6 expression and lower NF-κB, PPAR-γ, and SREBP-1 expression levels compared to pre-DM control group. Collectively, results show that SIRT6 is involved in the inflammatory pathway of subcutaneous abdominal fat of obese pre-DM patients and its expression responds to metformin therapy.