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. 2019 Oct 17;8:e49882. doi: 10.7554/eLife.49882

Figure 1. Obesity suppress MBOAT7 expression in humans, mice, and rats.

Figure 1.

(A) To investigate the impact human obesity has on MBOAT7 expression, we obtained wedged liver biopsies from sequentially consenting bariatric surgery patients and normal weight controls. We used these biopsies to isolate RNA and measure MBOAT7 expression via qPCR. The data are stratified based on BMI. A total of 52 liver biopsies were analyzed. Lean (BMI <30; n = 10), Obese (30 < BMI > 40; n = 13), and Severely Obese (BMI >40; n = 29) ***p≤0.001 compared to the lean group. Status of the rs641738 SNP is shown in the top inset. (B) Liver MBOAT7 expression was measured by QPCR from wild type and ob/ob mice 16–20 weeks of age (n = 8; **p≤0.01; two-tailed t-test; Data are presented as mean ± S.E.M.) (C) Liver MBOAT7 expression was measured by QPCR from Sprague Dawley rats fed a low fat or high fat high diet for 24 weeks (n = 8; **p≤0.01; two-tailed t-test; Data are presented as mean ± S.E.M.). (D–F) We used a systems genetics approach to examine links between MBOAT7 expression and metabolic traits in mice from the hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP). To induce obesity, all mouse strains represented in the HMDP were fed an obesity-promoting high fat and high sucrose diet. Across the different strains in the HMDP, we found that the expression of MBOAT7 in adipose tissue was strongly negatively correlated with body fat percentage (E), and HOMA-IR (F), while liver MBOAT7 expression was also negatively correlated with fat mass (D).