Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate modifies human fatty acid composition of different adipose tissue depots

Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) has been described as a protector agent against obesity-related pathologies, although the mechanism of action is still unknown. We have shown that DHEA-S acts on adipose tissue (AT), altering the fatty acid (FA) profile in rodents. Thus, we could hypothesize that some of the beneficial effects shown by DHEA-S in humans are related to a modification of the human AT-FA profile. The present study examines this question and whether this effect is tissue-dependent.

Paired visceral and subcutaneous AT biopsies were obtained from 20 patients who had undergone bariatric surgery. These samples were subjected to primary adipose culture and incubated for 24 h with 1 μM DHEA-S. The FA profile of both control and treated samples were analyzed by gas chromatography.

A reduction in total saturated fatty acids (SFA), the n-6 family of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was observed after DHEA-S treatment, whereas monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) increased. In addition, DHEA-S altered the percentage of several individual FA, decreasing palmitic acid and increasing vaccenic acid in both AT. All estimated desaturase activity ratios slightly increased after DHEA-S treatment, although only the increase of delta-6-desaturase index in both depots reached statistical significance. No depot-specific action of DHEA-S was found between subcutaneous and visceral AT.

In vitro, DHEA-S modifies the AT-FA composition towards a better metabolic profile to a similar extent in the subcutaneous and visceral adipose depots, in both of which a decrease in SFA and increased MUFA are observed after treatment. This effect could help to explain the beneficial effects attributed to DHEA-S. Further studies, however, are required to determine whether the effect of DHEA-S on adipose tissue in vitro is conserved in vivo.