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Elongases and desaturases of fatty acids in prediabetes

Publication at First Faculty of Medicine |
2019

Abstract

The prevalence of the prediabetes is increasing worldwide and it is expected that > 470 million people will suffer from prediabetes in 2030. In Czech republic it is estimated that about 5 % of the population has prediabetes.

The prediabetic state is known to be associated with an increased risk of both cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. In all these conditions the dysregulation of fatty acids has been recognized.

In this study we investigated fatty acid (FA) composition in plasma phosphatidylcholine in a group of 38 (20M/18F) persons (mean age 62 yrs, BMI 31 kg/m2) with prediabetes and in a control group (30M/39F) of healthy probands of the same age and BMI. The prediabetes group was characterized by a significantly higher comcentrations of stearic (P < 0.001), palmitoleic (P < 0.05), gammalinolenic, eicosadienic (both P < 0.01) and total saturated FA (P < 0.001, as well.

On the contrary, significantly lower concentrations (P < 0.001) of cis-vaccenic, linoleic (P < 0.001), adrenic (P < 0.05), docosapentaenic (P < 0.05), docosahexaenoic (P < 0.01) acids, and total PUFA n-6 (P < 0.001) were found in prediabetes group. Moreover, the estimated activities of delta-9-desaturase (D9D16) (P < 0.05), D6D (P < 0.001), and elongase 6 (ELOVL6) (P < 0.001) were significantly higher in prediabetes group, while estimated activities of ELOVL2/5 significantly lower (P < 0.001).

These changes could be associated with a risk of glucose homeostasis disturbance.