Female-predominant expression of fatty acid translocase/CD36 in rat and human liver

Nina Ståhlberg, Elizabeth Rico-Bautista, Rachel M Fisher, Xuxia Wu, Louisa Cheung, Amilcar Flores-Morales, Gunnel Tybring, Gunnar Norstedt, Petra Tollet-Egnell, Amilcar Flores Morales

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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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEndocrinology
Volume145
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1972-9
Number of pages8
ISSN0013-7227
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes

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