Obesity represents one of the most complex public health challenges and has recently reached epidemic proportions. Obesity is also considered to be primarily responsible for the rising prevalence of metabolic syndrome, defined as the coexistence in the same individual of several risk factors for atherosclerosis, including dyslipidemia, hypertension and hyperglycemia, as well as for cancer. Additionally, the presence of three of the five risk factors (abdominal obesity, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglycerides, high fasting glucose and high blood pressure) characterizes metabolic syndrome, which has serious clinical consequences. The current study was conducted in order to identify metabolic differences in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) collected from obese (body mass index 43–48) human subjects who were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, obese individuals who were metabolically healthy and nonobese healthy controls. Extensive gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analyses were used to obtain the untargeted VAT metabolomic profiles of 481 metabolites belonging to all biochemical pathways. Our results indicated consistent increases in oxidative stress markers from the pathologically obese samples in addition to subtle markers of elevated glucose levels that may be consistent with metabolic syndrome. In the tissue derived from the pathologically obese subjects, there were significantly elevated levels of plasmalogens, which may be increased in response to oxidative changes in addition to changes in glycerolphosphorylcholine, glycerolphosphorylethanolamine glycerolphosphorylserine, ceramides and sphingolipids. These data could be potentially helpful for recognizing new pathways that underlie the metabolic–vascular complications of obesity and may lead to the development of innovative targeted therapies.
Skip Nav Destination
Close
Article navigation
March 2018
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
The human immunodeficiency virus. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Parajuli et al. report that restricted the HIV Env (envelope glycoprotein) glycan engagement by a lectin reengineered DAVEI protein chimera is sufficient for virolysis. For details, see pages 931–957.
Research Article|
March 15 2018
Metabolic profiling of visceral adipose tissue from obese subjects with or without metabolic syndrome
Eleonora Candi
;
Eleonora Candi
*
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
2Biochemistry Laboratory, Istituto Dermopatico Immacolata (IDI-IRCCS), 00100 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Manfredi Tesauro
;
Manfredi Tesauro
*
3Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Carmine Cardillo
;
Carmine Cardillo
4Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Anna Maria Lena
;
Anna Maria Lena
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Francesca Schinzari
;
Francesca Schinzari
4Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, 00168 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Giuseppe Rodia
;
Giuseppe Rodia
3Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Giuseppe Sica
;
Giuseppe Sica
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Paolo Gentileschi
;
Paolo Gentileschi
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Valentina Rovella
;
Valentina Rovella
3Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Margherita Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli
;
Margherita Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli
2Biochemistry Laboratory, Istituto Dermopatico Immacolata (IDI-IRCCS), 00100 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Nicola Di Daniele
;
3Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
Correspondence: Nicola Di Daniele (didaniele@med.uniroma2.it) or Gerry Melino (melino@uniroma2)
Search for other works by this author on:
Gerry Melino
Gerry Melino
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 00133 Rome, Italy
5Medical Research Council, Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building, Leicester University, Lancaster Road, PO Box 138, Leicester LE1 9HN, U.K.
Search for other works by this author on:
Biochem J (2018) 475 (5): 1019–1035.
Article history
Received:
August 12 2017
Revision Received:
January 30 2018
Accepted:
January 31 2018
Accepted Manuscript online:
February 08 2018
Connected Content
A commentary has been published:
Metabolites in visceral fat: useful signals of metabolic syndrome?
Citation
Eleonora Candi, Manfredi Tesauro, Carmine Cardillo, Anna Maria Lena, Francesca Schinzari, Giuseppe Rodia, Giuseppe Sica, Paolo Gentileschi, Valentina Rovella, Margherita Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli, Nicola Di Daniele, Gerry Melino; Metabolic profiling of visceral adipose tissue from obese subjects with or without metabolic syndrome. Biochem J 15 March 2018; 475 (5): 1019–1035. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20170604
Download citation file:
Close
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Cited By
Related Articles
Metabolites in visceral fat: useful signals of metabolic syndrome?
Biochem J (May,2018)
New insight on obesity and adipose-derived stem cells using comprehensive metabolomics
Biochem J (July,2016)
Post-translational modifications of adiponectin: mechanisms and functional implications
Biochem J (January,2008)