Division of Liver and Pancreatic Diseases, Department of Upper GI, Huddinge C1-77, Karolinska University Hospital, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden.
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 28;12(1):20519. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-24482-1.
Adipocyte hypertrophy and expression of adipokines in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) have been linked to steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis in morbidly obese (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m) subjects. It is unknown if this is also true for subjects with NAFLD with lesser degrees of obesity (BMI < 35 kg/m). Thirty-two subjects with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 15 non-diabetic controls matched for BMI underwent fine-needle biopsies of SAT. Adipocyte volume was calculated. RNA-sequencing of SAT was performed in a subset of 20 NAFLD patients. Adipocyte volume and gene expression levels were correlated to the presence of NASH or significant fibrosis. Subjects with NAFLD had larger adipocyte volume compared with controls, (1939 pL, 95% CI 1130-1662 vs. 854 pL, 95% CI 781-926, p < 0.001). There was no association between adipocyte volume and the presence of NASH. Gene expression of adipokines previously described to correlate with NASH in morbid obesity, was not associated with NASH or fibrosis. Our results suggest that persons with NAFLD have larger SAT adipocytes compared with controls and that adipocytes are involved in the pathophysiology of hepatic steatosis in NAFLD. However, adipocyte volume was not associated with NASH or fibrosis in NAFLD subjects with varying degrees of obesity.
脂肪细胞肥大和脂肪因子在皮下脂肪组织 (SAT) 中的表达与肥胖症（BMI≥40kg/m）患者的脂肪变性、非酒精性脂肪性肝炎 (NASH) 和纤维化有关。目前尚不清楚这种情况是否也适用于肥胖程度较轻（BMI<35kg/m）的非酒精性脂肪性肝病 (NAFLD) 患者。32 名经活检证实为 NAFLD 的患者和 15 名 BMI 匹配的非糖尿病对照者接受了 SAT 的细针活检。计算了脂肪细胞体积。对 20 名 NAFLD 患者的 SAT 进行了 RNA 测序。将脂肪细胞体积和基因表达水平与 NASH 或显著纤维化的存在相关联。与对照组相比，NAFLD 患者的脂肪细胞体积更大（1939pL，95%CI 1130-1662 与 854pL，95%CI 781-926，p<0.001）。脂肪细胞体积与 NASH 之间无相关性。先前在病态肥胖中与 NASH 相关的脂肪因子的基因表达与 NASH 或纤维化均无相关性。我们的结果表明，与对照组相比，NAFLD 患者的 SAT 脂肪细胞更大，并且脂肪细胞参与了 NAFLD 患者肝脂肪变性的病理生理学过程。然而，在肥胖程度不同的 NAFLD 患者中，脂肪细胞体积与 NASH 或纤维化无关。
