Expression of FASN and PEPCK genes in adipose tissues of obese subjects with and without diabetes mellitus

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lab of Biochemistry, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

2 Biochemistry Department, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.

3 Anesthesia Department, Obesity Surgery Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: The investigation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and fatty acid synthase (FASN) genes that regulate the energy metabolism could enhance the development of preventive intervention strategies for obesity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the expression of FASN and PEPCK genes and to investigate their potential role in obese patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Moreover, to explore the correlations between the clinical variables and the above-mentioned genes.

Subjects and methods: Forty obese subjects (25 obese non-diabetic and 15 obese diabetic) underwent bariatric surgery; abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) biopsies were collected from them during the surgery, and 15 non-obese subjects served as controls. The expressions of FASN and PEPCK mRNA were evaluated with quantitative real-time PCR technique, and data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: There was a statistically significant increase for PEPCK and FASN mRNA in subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese subjects with and without T2DM compared to controls (p-values < 0.001). Additionally, there was an association between FASN expressions and lipid parameters (TC: r=-0.564*, p=0.029; TG: r=0.684**, p=0.005; LDL: r=-0.637*, p=0.011; HDL: r=0.549*, p=0.034) as well as insulin (r=0.581*, p=0.023) and HOMA-IR (r=0.549*, p=0.34) in obese diabetic patients.

Conclusion: The FASN and PEPCK genes are more expressed in subcutaneous adipose tissues of obese individuals than normal controls, regardless of diabetes status. However, more future studies are needed with a larger sample size to assess our findings.

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Egyptian Journal of Chemistry
Volume 68, Issue 13 - Serial Number 13
(In Loving Memory of Late Professor Doctor”Zeinab M. Nofal” In progress
December 2025
Pages 29-35

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History

  • Receive Date: 30 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 03 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 02 July 2025

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