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The Leukocyte mRNA Levels of Several Zinc Transporters are Altered in the Young Obese Women
Author(s) -
Noh Hwayoung,
Paik Hee Young,
Kim Jihye,
Chung Jayong
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.860.2
Subject(s) - endocrinology , transporter , medicine , zinc , obesity , messenger rna , metabolism , biology , gene expression , chemistry , gene , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Obesity has been associated with altered zinc metabolism. Two families of zinc transporters, the ZnT (SLC30) and the Zip (SLC29) family, are known to be involved in the regulation of zinc metabolism. In the current study, we examined the gene expression levels of leukocyte zinc transporters between obese (BMI=28.3±3.0, n=35) and non‐obese (BMI=20.7±1.0, n=20) young women aged 18–28 yr, using quantitative real‐time PCR. Zinc intake and serum zinc concentration did not differ between two groups, but serum superoxide dismutase activity was significantly lower in the obese than in the non‐obese ( P =0.02). Among all zinc transporters examined, the Zip1 mRNA was most abundantly expressed in the leukocytes. The mRNA levels of many zinc transporters (ZnT4, ZnT5, ZnT7, ZnT9, Zip1, Zip4, and Zip6) were significantly lower in the obese than in the non‐obese ( P <0.01). Especially, the Zip1 mRNA in the obese was 70.6% lower than that in the non‐obese ( P <0.0001). On the other hand, only the ZnT7 mRNA was 78.1% higher in the obese than that in the non‐obese ( P <0.0001). In addition, the ZnT1 mRNA was negatively correlated with serum TG concentrations in the obese group (r=−0.39, P =0.02), whereas no such correlation was found in the non‐obese group. Our study results suggest that obesity may alter zinc metabolism through changes in the gene expressions of various zinc transporters.