Decrease in FASN expression in adipose tissue of hypertensive individuals

Fatty acid (FA) synthesis enzymes (FA synthase (FASN) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC)) are related to metabolic alterations such as obesity, insulin resistance, or dyslipidemia. Due to the fact that there is no literature that relates FASN and ACC expression with hypertension, we investigate how FASN and ACC expression in adipose tissue is related to hypertension.

This study included 87 patients, undergoing laparoscopic surgery procedures after an overnight fast. These patients were classified according to hypertension levels into two groups, normotensive and hypertensive, with a wide range of body mass index (BMI) in order to measure gene expression levels of FASN and ACC and anthropometric and biochemical variables.

The main result of this work is a significant decrease of FASN expression in adipose tissue of hypertensive vs. normotensive patients, and that FASN may predict systolic blood pressure (SBP) values by multiple regression analysis and there was also an inverse correlation between FASN expression and SBP.

In conclusion, to our knowledge it has been proven, for the first time, that there is a decrease of FASN expression in hypertensive individuals. The clinical significance of this work represents an exciting challenge because it would need to be clarified whether the reduced values of FASN expression may be associated with hypertension or whether this is an adaptive mechanism to the presence of hypertension. Once this aspect is clarified, it could be a new target for the treatment of hypertension.