Context: Obesity is associated with altered plasma levels of adipokines involved in the development of insulin resistance and obesity-related metabolic disturbances.
Objective: The aim was to investigate diet-induced changes in adipokine production in sc abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) during a 6-month, multiphase, weight-reducing dietary intervention.
Design, setting, participants, and interventions: Forty-eight obese women followed a dietary intervention consisting of a very low-calorie diet (VLCD) (1 month), followed by a weight-stabilization (WS) period, which consisted of a low-calorie diet (2 months), and a weight-maintenance diet (3 months).
Main outcome measures: Before and at the end of the VLCD and WS, samples of plasma and SAT were obtained. In a subgroup of 26 women, secretion of adipokines was determined in SAT explants, and in a subgroup of 22 women, SAT mRNA expression was measured.
Results: Body weight decreased and insulin sensitivity increased during the intervention. Plasma levels, SAT mRNA expression, and secretion rates of adipocyte-produced adipokines (leptin, serum amyloid A, and haptoglobin) decreased during the VLCD and increased during the WS period. Adipokines produced mainly from stroma-vascular cells (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1Ra, TNFα, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) increased or remained unchanged during VLCD and decreased to levels equal to or lower than prediet levels during the WS period. The diet-induced changes in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance correlated with changes in leptin plasma levels during VLCD, WS, and the entire dietary intervention period.
Conclusions: Diet-induced regulation of adipokine production in SAT differs according to their cellular origin (adipocytes vs. stroma-vascular cells) and diet phase (VLCD vs. WS). Insulin-sensitivity changes were associated only with those of plasma leptin.