title: Female-predominant expression of fatty acid translocase/CD36 in rat and human liver.
abstract: The aim of this study was to identify genes for hepatic fuel metabolism with a gender-differentiated expression and to determine which of these that might be regulated by the female-specific secretion of GH. Effects of gender and continuous infusion of GH to male rats were studied in the liver using cDNA microarrays representing 3200 genes. Sixty-nine transcripts displayed higher expression levels in females, and 177 displayed higher expression in males. The portion of GH-regulated genes was the same (30%) within the two groups of gender-specific genes. The male liver had a higher expression of genes involved in fuel metabolism, indicating that male rats might have a greater capacity for high metabolic turnover, compared with females. Most notable among the female-predominant transcripts was fatty acid translocase/CD36, with 18-fold higher mRNA levels in the female liver and 4-fold higher mRNA levels in males treated with GH, compared with untreated males. This gender-differentiated expression was confirmed at mRNA and protein levels in the rat and at the mRNA level in human livers. Although purely speculative, it is possible that higher levels of fatty acid translocase/CD36 in human female liver might contribute to the sexually dimorphic development of diseases resulting from or characterized by disturbances in lipid metabolism, such as arteriosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. nina.stahlberg@cmm.ki.se
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ståhlberg
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rico-Bautista
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Xuxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Amilcar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flores-Morales
authors.forename: Gunnel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tybring
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Norstedt
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tollet-Egnell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D018955:CD36 Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D018955:CD36 Antigens; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters; D012333:RNA, Messenger