Genes implicated in insulin resistance are down-regulated in primary aldosteronism patients.

Tracy Ann Williams, Silvia Monticone, Riccardo Urbanet, Chiara Bertello, Giuseppe Giraudo, Roberto Vettor, Francesco Fallo, Franco Veglio, Paolo Mulatero

Journal: Molecular and cellular endocrinology 2012;355(1):162-8

PMID: 22366095

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Primary aldosteronism (PA) patients display an increased incidence of insulin resistance. Herein we demonstrate the decreased gene expression of lipid metabolism genes PCK1, PLIN, ADIPOQ and PPARG in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of PA patients compared to age-, sex- and BMI-matched controls. In VAT, the expression of PCK1, PLIN, ADIPOQ and PPARG was inversely correlated with aldosterone levels; furthermore, PLIN and ADIPOQ gene expression was correlated with potassium levels. Therefore, raised aldosterone and low potassium may contribute to the reduced expression of these genes in PA patients. Finally, incubation of primary cultures of human adipocytes with aldosterone resulted in a decrease in the expression of PCK1, PLIN and ADIPOQ and this effect was blocked by eplerenone. Therefore, the characteristic aldosterone excess of PA patients may mediate the down-regulation of PCK1, PLIN and ADIPOQ in VAT that in turn may contribute to the insulin resistance observed in PA patients.

Address: Division of Internal Medicine and Hypertension, Department of Medicine and Experimental Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2012.02.007

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MeSH Terms: Adipocytes, Adiponectin, Adult, Aged, Aldosterone, Carrier Proteins, Cells, Cultured, Down-Regulation, Eplerenone, Female, Gene Expression, Humans, Hyperaldosteronism, Insulin Resistance, Intra-Abdominal Fat, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Lipid Metabolism, Male, Middle Aged, Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists, PPAR gamma, Perilipin-1, Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP), Phosphoproteins, Potassium, Spironolactone