Abstract
BackgroundObesity plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The underlying mechanisms linking obesity to metabolic diseases are still less understandable.MethodsPreviously, we screened a group of spontaneously obese rhesus monkeys. Here, we performed a plasma lipidomic analysis of normal and obese monkeys using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (UPLC/MS).ResultsIn total, 143 lipid species were identified, quantified, and classified into free fatty acids (FFA), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and sphingomyelin (SM). Data analysis showed that the obese monkeys had increased levels of fatty acids palmitoleic acid (C16:1) and arachidonic acid (C20:4), FFA especially palmitic acid (C16:0), as well as certain PC species and SM species. Surprisingly, the plasma level of LPA-C16:0 was approximately four-fold greater in the obese monkeys. Conversely, the levels of most PE species were obviously reduced in the obese monkeys.ConclusionCollectively, our work suggests that lipids such as FFA C16:0 and 16:0-LPA may be potential candidates for the diagnosis and study of obesity-related diseases.
Highlights
The increasing prevalence of obesity is becoming a medical and public health problem, since it is highly associated with metabolic abnormalities, including hyperlipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular diseases [1, 2]
Obese monkeys showed increased levels of free fatty acids (FFA) Our previous report identified a group of spontaneously obese rhesus monkeys with significantly increased boy weight, body mass index (BMI), and TG content in serum and liver, as well as mild insulin resistance [15]
To define potential lipid biomarkers or disease factors involved in obesity and insulin resistance, the blood samples of three individual obese (OB) and normal (CK) monkeys, which were used for liver proteome analysis previously [15], were simultaneously collected for lipidome analysis
Summary
The increasing prevalence of obesity is becoming a medical and public health problem, since it is highly associated with metabolic abnormalities, including hyperlipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular diseases [1, 2]. Obesity can be induced by high-calorie diets, many reports have convincingly demonstrated that spontaneous obesity is common in NHPs, and they displayed similar obesity-related physiologic changes, including increased abdominal fat, body mass index (BMI), as well as dyslipidemia IR and T2D, to those in humans [7,8,9,10,11,12]. We conducted a plasma lipidomic analysis of normal and spontaneously obese monkeys to define potential lipid biomarkers or disease factors for obesity and insulin resistance. Obesity plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The underlying mechanisms linking obesity to metabolic diseases are still less understandable
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