Dietary long-chain n-3 PUFAs increase LPL gene expression in adipose tissue of subjects with an atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype

• Main Authors: Syrah Khan, Anne-Marie Minihane, Philippa J. Talmud, John W. Wright, Margaret C. Murphy, Christine M. Williams, Bruce A. Griffin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2002-06-01
• Series: Journal of Lipid Research
• Subjects: polyunsaturated fatty acids; lipoprotein lipase gene; fish oil
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022227520304739

We sought to test the hypothesis that dietary long-chain n-3 PUFA (LC n-3 PUFA) in fish oil stimulate the gene expression of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in human adipose tissue (AT). In a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 51 male subjects expressing an atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype (ALP) had their diets supplemented with fish oil for 6 weeks. As we previously reported for this group, supplementation with LC n-3 PUFA produced a decrease in fasting plasma triglyceride (TG) (−35%, P < 0.05), attenuation of the postprandial TG response (area and incremental area under the curve; AUC and IAUC, P < 0.05), and a decrease in small, dense LDL. The present study extended these observations by showing that these changes were accompanied by a marked increase in the concentration of LPL mRNA in adipose tissue (AT-LPL mRNA, +55%, P = 0.003) and post-heparin LPL activity (PH-LPL, +31%, P = 0.036). There was also evidence of an association between LPL gene expression and polymorphism in the apolipoprotein E gene.We conclude that the favorable influence of dietary n-3 PUFA on the ALP may be mediated, in part, through an increase in the plasma activity and gene expression of lipoprotein lipase in human adipose tissue.