Expression of genes involved in carbohydrate‐lipid metabolism in muscle and fat tissues in the initial stage of adult‐age obesity in fed and fasted mice

Abstract C57Bl mice exhibit impaired glucose metabolism by the late adult age under standard living conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate white adipose tissue (WAT), brown adipose tissue (BAT), and skeletal muscle expression of genes involved in carbohydrate‐lipid metabolism at postpubertal stages preceding the late adult age in C57Bl mice. Muscle mRNA levels of uncoupling protein 3 ( Ucp3 ) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 ( Cpt1 ) (indicators of FFA oxidation), WAT mRNA levels of hormone‐sensitive lipase ( Lipe ) and lipoprotein lipase ( Lpl ) (indicators of lipolysis and lipogenesis), muscle and WAT mRNA levels of the type 4 glucose transporter Slc2a4 (indicators of insulin‐dependent glucose uptake), and BAT mRNA levels of uncoupling protein 1 ( Ucp1 ) (indicator of thermogenesis) were measured in fed and 16 h‐fasted mice in three age groups: 10‐week‐old (young), 15‐week‐old (early adult), and 30‐week‐old (late adult). Weight gain from young to early adult age was not accompanied by changes in WAT and BAT indexes and biochemical blood parameters. Weight gain from early to late adult age was accompanied by increased WAT and BAT indexes and decreased glucose tolerance. Muscle Ucp3 and Cpt1 mRNA levels and WAT Lipe and Slc2a4 mRNA levels increased from young to early adult age and then sharply decreased by the late adult age. Moreover, BAT Ucp1 mRNA level decreased in the late adult age. Fasting failed to increase muscle Cpt1 mRNA levels in late adult mice. These transcriptional changes could contribute to impaired glucose metabolism and the onset of obesity in late adult mice during normal development.