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Depot differences in steroid receptor expression in adipose tissue: possible role of the local steroid milieu

Grup de Metabolisme Energètic i Nutrició, Departament de Biologia Fonamental i Ciències de la Salut, Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Submitted 23 June 2004 ; accepted in final form 7 September 2004

Sex hormones play an important role in adipose tissue metabolism by activating specific receptors that alter several steps of the lipolytic and lipogenic signal cascade in depot- and sex-dependent manners. However, studies focusing on steroid receptor status in adipose tissue are scarce. In the present study, we analyzed steroid content [testosterone (T), 17-estradiol (17-E₂), and progesterone (P₄)] and steroid receptor mRNA levels in different rat adipose tissue depots. As expected, T levels were higher in males than in females (P = 0.031), whereas the reverse trend was observed for P₄ (P < 0.001). It is noteworthy that 17-E₂ adipose tissue levels were higher in inguinal than in the rest of adipose tissues for both sexes, where no sex differences in 17-E₂ tissue levels were noted (P = 0.010 for retroperitoneal, P = 0.005 for gonadal, P = 0.018 for mesenteric). Regarding steroid receptor levels, androgen (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) and ER densities were more clearly dependent on adipose depot location than on sex, with visceral depots showing overall higher mRNA densities than their subcutaneous counterparts. Besides, expression of ER predominated over ER expression, and progesterone receptor (PR-B form and PR-A+B form) mRNAs were identically expressed regardless of anatomic depot and sex. In vitro studies in 3T3-L1 cells showed that 17-E₂ increased ER (P = 0.001) and AR expression (P = 0.001), indicating that estrogen can alter estrogenic and androgenic signaling in adipose tissue. The results highlighted in this study demonstrate important depot-dependent differences in the sensitivity of adipose tissues to sex hormones between visceral and subcutaneous depots that could be related to metabolic situations observed in response to sex hormones.

steroid receptors; testosterone; 17-estradiol; progesterone

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Monjo, E. Pujol, and P. Roca {alpha}2- to {beta}3-Adrenoceptor switch in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and adipocytes: modulation by testosterone, 17{beta}-estradiol, and progesterone Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, July 1, 2005; 289(1): E145 - E150. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]