Troglitazone downregulatesΔ-3 desaturase gene expression in human skeletal muscle cell cultures

摘要

Δ-6 Desaturase, one of the rate-limiting enzymes, cata- lyzes the conversion of linoleic acid(C18:2ω6)into γ-linolenic acid(C18:3ω6), arachidonic acid(C20:4 ω6), and further metabolites. Recently, it has been shown that humanΔ-6 desaturase is expressed not only in liver but in a variety of human tissues, including muscle. Skeletal muscle is a major site of insulin action, and insulin sensitivity may be related to the fatty acid composition of muscle lipids. We examined the effects of troglitazone on the regulation ofΔ-6 desaturase gene expression in human muscle cell cultures ob- tained from muscle biopsies(n = 15).