Mitochondrial Homeostasis in Obesity-related Hypertriglyceridemia

Context: The prevalence of obesity and hypertriglyceridemia is an alarming worldwide health issue. Mitochondria play a central role in these disorders as they control cell metabolism.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to characterize mitochondrial homeostasis in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue (SAT and VAT) in grade III obese patients with and without hypertriglyceridemia. Moreover, this study presents the evaluation of mitochondrial fitness as a marker for hypertriglyceridemia improvement.

Patients: Eight control and 12 hypertriglyceridemic (HTG) grade III obese subjects undergoing bariatric surgery were included.

Main outcome measures: Anthropometric and biochemical data were obtained before and 3 months after surgery. Mitochondrial homeostasis was evaluated by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), gene expression and protein abundance in SAT and VAT.

Results: Mitophagy-related gene expression was increased in HTG SAT and VAT, while mitochondrial marker gene expression and mtDNA were decreased, indicating an altered mitochondrial homeostasis in HTG. Mitophagy protein abundance was increased in VAT of those subjects that did not improve their levels of triglycerides after bariatric surgery, whereas mitochondrial protein was decreased in the same tissue. Indeed, triglyceride levels positively correlated with mitophagy-related genes and negatively with mitochondrial content markers. Moreover, mitochondria content and mitophagy markers seem to be significant predictors of hypertriglyceridemia and hypertriglyceridemia remission.

Conclusions: Mitochondrial homeostasis of adipose tissue is altered in hypertriglyceridemic patients. At the protein level, mitochondria content and mitophagy are potential markers of hypertriglyceridemia remission in obese patients after bariatric surgery. These results may contribute to the implementation of a clinical approach for personalized medicine.