Pilot study and bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes in adipose tissues of rats with excess dietary intake

Excessive adipose tissue accumulation is an increasing health problem worldwide. The present study aimed to determine differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that are associated with the excessive accumulation of adipose tissues by PCR arrays in an excess dietary intake animal model. For this purpose, male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 2 groups: Control (given an ordinary diet) and experimental (given twice the amount of the ordinary diet). After 2 months of feeding, the abdominal cavities of the rats from each group were opened, then subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues were removed. The adipose tissues collected were then used for total RNA extraction and then reverse transcribed to cDNA, which was then used as a template to identify the DEGs of 84 transcripts for rat obesity by RT(2) Profiler PCR Arrays. The results showed significant downregulation of bombesin-like receptor 3 (BRS3) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in visceral adipose tissues of experimental rats compared with those of the control rats, and differential gene expression analysis showed an association with fat cell differentiation and regulation of triglyceride sequestration, as well as fatty acid binding. The gene expression patterns observed in the present study, which may be associated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARG) on excessive visceral adipose tissue accumulation, may be useful in identifying a group of surrogate biomarkers for the early diet-induced accumulation of visceral adipose tissue detection in humans. The biomarkers can also be the specific targets for drug development to reduce excessive visceral adipose tissue accumulation in the body and its associated diseases.