Subcutaneous adipose tissue expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene during very low calorie diet in obese subjects

OBJECTlVE: To determine whether changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression influence plasma PAI-7 level during weight: loss in obese humans. DESIGN: Study of the variations of PAI-1 levels both in plasma and in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue in 15 volunteer non-diabetic obese subjects, body mass index (BMI) 40.4. +/- 1.9 kg/m(2), aged 48 +/- 3 y, before and after a 3 week. very low calorie diet: (VLCD) programme (3.9+/- 0.1 MJ/day). MEASUREMENTS: Plasma and adipose tissue PAI-1 protein revels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and PAI-1 mRNA levels were quantified by quantitative RT-competitive PCR. RESULTS: VLCD induced weight loss (5.8+/-0.8kg) and decreased plasma)PAI-1 concentration (- 26% (P<0.01). Surprisingly, PAI-1 mRNA and protein abundance in subcutaneous adipose tissue increased by 87% (P < 0.05) and by 44% (P < 0.01). respectively. CONCLUSION: These data indicate thus that changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue PAI-1 expression are not involved in the decrease of plasma PAI-1 levels during VLCD in obese subjects.