title: ZAG, a lipid mobilizing adipokine, is downregulated in human obesity.
abstract: The main goal of this study was to compare the expression of Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein (ZAG), a recently described adipokine, in obese and lean subjects. ZAG expression was determined by Real-time PCR analysis in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue of eighteen young men, 9 lean (BMI = 23.1 +/- 0.4 kg/m2) and 9 obese (34.7 +/- 1.2 kg/m2) with a similar habitual dietary intake of fat and physical activity, which were assessed by validated methods. Our data revealed that ZAG gene was downregulated (-70%; p < 0.05) in subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese compared to lean subjects. Moreover, statistically significant positive correlations between ZAG gene expression and serum adiponectin (r = 0.89; p < 0.01) and a negative correlation with the plasma levels of leptin (r = -0.82; p < 0.05) and waist circumference (r = -0.64; p < 0.05) were found in obese subjects. Our data suggest that this novel adipokine could play a role in human susceptibility to obesity related disorders and that upregulation of ZAG could be a promising therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Physiology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Marrades
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Moreno-Aliaga
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000502:physiology; D054392:Adipokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000502:physiology; D000090203:Zn-Alpha-2-Glycoprotein
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins; D000090203:Zn-Alpha-2-Glycoprotein