Fatty acid type-specific regulation of SIRT1 does not affect insulin sensitivity in human skeletal muscle

The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylase, sirtuin (SIRT)1, in skeletal muscle is reduced in insulin-resistant states. However, whether this is an initial mechanism responsible for mediating insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle remains to be investigated. Also, SIRT1 acts as a mitochondrial gene transcriptional regulator and is induced by a short-term, high-fat diet (HFD) in human skeletal muscle. Whether saturated or unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) in the diet are important for this is unknown. We subjected 17 healthy, young men to a eucaloric control (Con) diet and 1 of 2 hypercaloric [+75% energy (E%)] HFDs for 3 d enriched in either saturated (Sat) FA (79 E% fat; Sat) or unsaturated FA (78 E% fat; Unsat). After Sat, SIRT1 protein content and activity in skeletal muscle increased ( P < 0.05; ∼40%) while remaining unchanged after Unsat. Whole-body insulin sensitivity and insulin-stimulated leg glucose uptake were reduced ( P < 0.01; ∼20%) to a similar extent compared to Con after both HFDs. We demonstrate a novel FA type-dependent regulation of SIRT1 protein in human skeletal muscle. Moreover, regulation of SIRT1 does not seem to be an initiating factor responsible for mediating insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle.-Fritzen, A. M., Lundsgaard, A.-M., Jeppesen, J. F., Sjøberg, K. A., Høeg, L. D., Deleuran, H. H., Wojtaszewski, J. F. P., Richter, E. A., Kiens, B. Fatty acid type-specific regulation of SIRT1 does not affect insulin sensitivity in human skeletal muscle.