Reduced Biliverdin Reductase-A Expression in Visceral Adipose Tissue is Associated with Adipocyte Dysfunction and NAFLD in Human Obesity

Biliverdin reductase A (BVR-A) is an enzyme involved in the regulation of insulin signalling. Knockout (KO) mice for hepatic BVR-A, on a high-fat diet, develop more severe glucose impairment and hepato-steatosis than the wild type, whereas loss of adipocyte BVR-A is associated with increased visceral adipose tissue (VAT) inflammation and adipocyte size. However, BVR-A expression in human VAT has not been investigated. We evaluated BVR-A mRNA expression levels by real-time PCR in the intra-operative omental biopsy of 38 obese subjects and investigated the association with metabolic impairment, VAT dysfunction, and biopsy-proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Individuals with lower VAT BVR-A mRNA levels had significantly greater VAT IL-8 and Caspase 3 expression than those with higher BVR-A. Lower VAT BVR-A mRNA levels were associated with an increased adipocytes’ size. An association between lower VAT BVR-A expression and higher plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was also observed. Reduced VAT BVR-A was associated with NAFLD with an odds ratio of 1.38 (95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.9; χ(2) test) and with AUROC = 0.89 (p = 0.002, 95% CI = 0.76–1.0). In conclusion, reduced BVR-A expression in omental adipose tissue is associated with VAT dysfunction and NAFLD, suggesting a possible involvement of BVR-A in the regulation of VAT homeostasis in presence of obesity.