title: Obesity reduces the expression of GLUT4 in the endometrium of normoinsulinemic women affected by the polycystic ovary syndrome.
abstract: GLUT4 is the most important glucose transporter in insulin-dependent tissues. A decrease of its expression by the adipocytes was reported in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), regardless of obesity and glucose tolerance. In PCOS, abnormal menstrual cycles, abnormal insulin secretory patterns, and obesity, which are risk factors for endometrial diseases, frequently coexist. The endometrial effects of insulin are direct through specific insulin receptors. However, it is unknown whether the endometrium expresses GLUT4 and can be considered an insulin-regulated tissue. In this study, we investigated this question, and we investigated whether obesity modulates this expression in PCOS normoinsulinemic patients. We assayed GLUT4 in the endometrial samples from 18 normoinsulinemic PCOS patients and 9 controls in the advanced follicular phase of the cycle; 10 patients were lean and 8 obese, and all were aged between 23 and 32 years. Most tissue was immediately frozen for RT-PCR; some tissue was saved for histology and immunohistochemistry. GLUT4 mRNA expression was measured in three samples for every patient and expressed as mean +/- SE of an arbitrary unit. In obese PCOS subjects, endometrial GLUT4 expression was significantly lower than in the lean ones (24.0 +/- 6.8 vs. 65.2 +/- 24.4; P < 0.005) and the controls (53.2 +/- 10.7). Lean PCOS and control subjects showed similar values. GLUT4 immunostaining was strong in the epithelial and absent in the stromal cells. We demonstrated endometrial GLUT4 expression. The similar results in lean PCOS and control subjects suggest that endometrial GLUT4 expression is not affected by PCOS itself, whereas it is reduced by obesity in PCOS patients.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche dell'Università di Padova-Clinica Medica 3, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mozzanega
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mioni
authors.forename: Marnie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Granzotto
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiarelli
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xamin
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuliani
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sicolo
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marchesoni
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vettor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004717:Endometrium / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D007328:Insulin; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C495692:SLC2A4 protein, human