Abstract

Background: 11?-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11?-HSD1) enzyme catalyzes interconversion of inactive cortisone to active cortisol. Its expression in adipose tissue has been associated with obesity and some of its metabolic disorders. Controversies regarding which fat depots [subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) or visceral adipose tissue (VAT)] have higher expression still remain. The aim of this work was to evaluate 11?-HSD1 expression in SAT and VAT of obese patients and evaluate its association to metabolic features of metabolic syndrome. Methods: In 32 morbidly obese patients, paired samples of SAT and VAT were collected. All patients, 40.2?±?12.3 years and 36.7?±?3.8 body mass index (BMI), underwent sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic gastric bypass. Gene expression of 11?-HSD1 in adipose tissue samples were determined by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Spearman correlation test was used to evaluate relationships between 11?-HSD1 levels and clinical and biochemical parameters. Results: 11?-HSD1 mRNA levels were higher in SAT than in VAT, with median expression levels of 11.4 arbitrary units (AU) and 7.8 AU, respectively (p?=?0.03). SAT 11?-HSD1 mRNA were correlated with VAT mRNA levels (r?=?-0.6, p?=?0.018) and hip circumference (r?=?0.66, p?=?0.018). SAT 11?-HSD1 levels increase parallel according to BMI category. We did not find a correlation between SAT or VAT with fasting glucose (r?=?0.15, p?=?NS), total cholesterol (r?=?0.13, p?=?NS), triglycerides (r?=?0.04, p?=?NS), and high-density lipoprotein (r?=?-0.16, p?=?NS). However, SAT expression in patients with features of MS was higher than those without features of MS. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that SATs express higher 11?-HSD1 mRNA levels than VAT. This finding highlights the importance of SAT in obesity and its possible role on metabolic disorders associated with obesity. © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.