Abstract
BackgroundVisceral fat accumulation in overweight status has been resulted in changes of fatty acid profiles. The fatty acids profiles can be altered by fatty acid desaturase; the activity of which is highly associated with obesity and other metabolic diseases. We hypothesized that fatty acid composition, desaturase activity, and accumulation of visceral fat are interrelated. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between increased visceral fat area and alterations in plasma fatty acid profile in overweight subjects with different amounts of visceral fat.MethodsHealthy overweight subjects (25.0 kg/m2 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2, n=232) were classified into lower (T1), middle (T2), and upper tertiles (T3) according to L4 visceral fat area (T1: <71.8 cm2, T2: 71.8 cm2–99.6 cm2, T3: >99.6 cm2).ResultsThe T3 group showed higher amounts of cis-10-heptadecenoic acid and activity of C16 Δ9-desaturase and C18 Δ9-desaturase and lower activity of Δ5-desaturase than the T1 group. Additionally, the T3 group showed higher amounts of saturated fatty acids, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, monounsaturated fatty acids, palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, n-3 PUFAs, and docosapentaenoic acid than the T1 and T2 groups.ConclusionsThis study indicates that greater than a certain area (>99.6 cm2) of visceral fat is needed to observe altered levels of individual fatty acid species and desaturase activities. The results suggest that increased activity of C16 Δ9-desaturase and C18 Δ9-desaturase in parallel with decreased Δ5-desaturase activity may be a causative factor in disturbed fatty acid metabolism.
Highlights
Visceral fat accumulation in overweight status has been resulted in changes of fatty acid profiles
The subjects in the T3 group were older; showed increased waist circumference, waist-tohip ratio, diastolic blood pressure (BP), TG, total cholesterol (TC), Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP); and showed decreased High-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol compared to the total subjects
The results of the present study support the assumption that increased activities of C16 Δ9-desaturase and C18 Δ9-desaturase in parallel with decreased Δ5-desaturase activity may be a causative factor in disturbed fatty acid metabolism in overweight subjects with a high visceral fat area, with the Saturated fatty acid (SFA), Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) series
Summary
Visceral fat accumulation in overweight status has been resulted in changes of fatty acid profiles. Visceral fat accumulation in overweight status has been suggested to lead to changes in the composition of lipids, lipoproteins [1], and fatty acids [2]. Amount of dihomo-γlinolenic acid (C20:3, n-6) in common foods is very low, the results mean that activity of D6D that contributes to convert linoleic acid (C18:2, n-6) to dihomo-γlinolenic acid (C20:3, n-6) was increased in overweight and/or obese subjects. In those subjects, their dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (C20:3, n-6) was high, the ratio of arachidonic acid (C20:4, n-6) to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (C20:3, n-6) was low; that means the activity of D5D that converts dihomo-γlinolenic acid (C20:3, n-6) to arachidonic acid (C20:4, n-6) was decreased [11]. Overweight and/or obese status, fatty acid composition, and desaturase activity are related to each other
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