Obesity and ethnicity alter gene expression in skin. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Obesity is accompanied by dysfunction of many organs, but effects on the skin have received little attention. We studied differences in epithelial thickness by histology and gene expression by Affymetrix gene arrays and PCR in the skin of 10 obese (BMI 35-50) and 10 normal weight (BMI 18.5-26.9) postmenopausal women paired by age and ethnicity. Epidermal thickness did not differ with obesity but the expression of genes encoding proteins associated with skin blood supply and wound healing were altered. In the obese, many gene expression pathways were broadly downregulated and subdermal fat showed pronounced inflammation. There were no changes in skin microbiota or metabolites. African American subjects differed from European Americans with a trend to increased epidermal thickening. In obese African Americans, compared to obese European Americans, we observed altered gene expression that may explain known differences in water content and stress response. African Americans showed markedly lower expression of the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator characteristic of the disease cystic fibrosis. The results from this preliminary study may explain the functional changes found in the skin of obese subjects and African Americans.

publication date

  • August 21, 2020

Research

keywords

  • Ethnicity
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Obesity
  • Skin

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC7442822

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85089679527

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/s41598-018-28134-5

PubMed ID

  • 32826922

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 10

issue

  • 1