TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of lipid and fatty acid composition of the liver, subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adipose tissue, and serum
AU - Kotronen, Anna
AU - Seppänen-Laakso, Tuulikki
AU - Westerbacka, Jukka
AU - Kiviluoto, Tuula
AU - Arola, Johanna
AU - Ruskeepää, Anna-Liisa
AU - Yki-Järvinen, Hannele
AU - Orešič, Matej
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Ceramides may mediate saturated fat–induced insulin resistance, but
there are no data comparing ceramide concentrations between human
tissues. We therefore performed lipidomic analysis of human subcutaneous
(SCfat) and intra‐abdominal (IAfat) adipose tissue, the liver, and
serum in eight subjects. The liver contained (nmol/mg tissue)
significantly more ceramides (1.5–3‐fold), sphingomyelins (7–8‐fold),
phosphatidylethanolamines (10–11‐fold), lysophosphatidylcholines
(7–12‐fold), less ether‐linked phosphatidylcholines (2–2.5‐fold) but
similar amounts of diacylglycerols as compared to SCfat and IAfat. The
amounts of ceramides and their synthetic precursors, such as palmitic
(16:0) free fatty acids and sphingomyelins, differed considerably
between the tissues. The liver contained proportionally more palmitic,
stearic (18:0), and long polyunsaturated fatty acids than adipose
tissues. Stearoyl‐CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) activity reflected by serum,
estimated from the 16:1/16:0‐ratio, was closely related to that in the
liver (r = 0.86, P = 0.024) but not adipose tissues. This was also true for estimated elongase (18:1/16:1, r = 0.89, P = 0.01), and Δ5 (20:4/20:3, r = 0.89, P = 0.012) and Δ6 (18:3[n‐6]/18:2, r = 1.0, P
< 0.001) desaturase activities. We conclude that the human liver
contains higher concentrations of ceramides and saturated free fatty
acids than either SCfat or IAfat.
AB - Ceramides may mediate saturated fat–induced insulin resistance, but
there are no data comparing ceramide concentrations between human
tissues. We therefore performed lipidomic analysis of human subcutaneous
(SCfat) and intra‐abdominal (IAfat) adipose tissue, the liver, and
serum in eight subjects. The liver contained (nmol/mg tissue)
significantly more ceramides (1.5–3‐fold), sphingomyelins (7–8‐fold),
phosphatidylethanolamines (10–11‐fold), lysophosphatidylcholines
(7–12‐fold), less ether‐linked phosphatidylcholines (2–2.5‐fold) but
similar amounts of diacylglycerols as compared to SCfat and IAfat. The
amounts of ceramides and their synthetic precursors, such as palmitic
(16:0) free fatty acids and sphingomyelins, differed considerably
between the tissues. The liver contained proportionally more palmitic,
stearic (18:0), and long polyunsaturated fatty acids than adipose
tissues. Stearoyl‐CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) activity reflected by serum,
estimated from the 16:1/16:0‐ratio, was closely related to that in the
liver (r = 0.86, P = 0.024) but not adipose tissues. This was also true for estimated elongase (18:1/16:1, r = 0.89, P = 0.01), and Δ5 (20:4/20:3, r = 0.89, P = 0.012) and Δ6 (18:3[n‐6]/18:2, r = 1.0, P
< 0.001) desaturase activities. We conclude that the human liver
contains higher concentrations of ceramides and saturated free fatty
acids than either SCfat or IAfat.
U2 - 10.1038/oby.2009.326
DO - 10.1038/oby.2009.326
M3 - Article
SN - 1930-7381
VL - 18
SP - 937
EP - 944
JO - Obesity
JF - Obesity
IS - 5
ER -
