Background: GPR43 is a G-protein-coupled receptor that participates in adipocyte differentiation in mice and is over-expressed in adipose tissue of obese mice. The aim of this study was to investigate the implication of GPR43 in adipogenesis in humans and to determine the influence of obesity on its expression in human adipose tissue.
Findings: Preadipocytes were isolated from human omental adipose tissue and cultured during 13 days. One PPARγ agonist (troglitazone) and three GPR43 agonists (two physiological and one synthetic) were tested for their ability to induce differentiation. After 13 days, the three GPR43 agonists had no impact on aP2 expression, a marker of adipocyte differentiation, whereas troglitazone led to a huge over-expression of aP2 in these cells but tended to decrease GPR43 expression (p=0.06).GPR43 and inflammatory markers expression was also quantified in omental adipose tissue from lean and obese individuals. GPR43 expression in total adipose tissue was similar between obese patients and lean subjects and did not correlate with aP2 expression. In contrast, GPR43 expression positively correlated with TNFα mRNA.
Conclusions: Our results suggest the absence of relationship between GPR43 and adipocyte differentiation in humans, unlike what was observed in mice. Furthermore, GPR43 expression is not increased in adipose tissue from obese subjects but could be related to TNFα-related inflammatory processes.