title: Visceral fat accumulation during lipid overfeeding is related to subcutaneous adipose tissue characteristics in healthy men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The hypothesis of a limited expansion of sc adipose tissue during weight gain provides an attractive explanation for the reorientation of excess lipids toward ectopic sites, contributing to visceral adipose depots and metabolic syndrome.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to define whether the characteristics of sc adipose tissue influence the partition of lipids toward abdominal fat depots during weight gain in healthy men.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one healthy nonobese volunteers performed a 56-day overfeeding protocol (+760 kcal/d). Insulin sensitivity was estimated by euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp. Changes in abdominal visceral and sc adipose tissue depots were measured by magnetic resonance imaging. The fate of ingested lipids before and after overfeeding was investigated using a [d31]palmitate test meal, and gene expression was measured by real-time PCR in sc fat biopsies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overfeeding led to a 2.5-kg body weight increase with large interindividual variations in abdominal sc and visceral adipose tissues. There was no relationship between the relative expansions of these 2 depots, but the increase in visceral depot was positively associated with the magnitude of the postprandial exogenous fatty acid release in the circulation during the test meal. The regulation of lipid storage-related genes (DGAT2, SREBP1c, and CIDEA) was defective in the sc fat of the subjects exhibiting the largest accumulation in visceral depot.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Characteristics of sc adipose tissue appear therefore to contribute to the development of visceral fat depot, supporting the adipose tissue expandability theory and extending it to early stages of weight gain in nonobese subjects.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 1060, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Laboratoires CarMeN et CENS, Université Lyon 1, 69921 Oullins, France.
authors.forename: Maud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alligier
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gabert
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meugnier
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lambert-Porcheron
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chanseaume
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pilleul
authors.forename: Cyrille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Debard
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sauvinet
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morio
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vidal-Puig
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laville
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015870:Gene Expression; D015309:Glucose Clamp Technique; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism; D044343:Overnutrition / Q000378:metabolism*; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000378:metabolism*