The Association of Dietary Fat Sources with Leptin Gene Expression from Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues among Tehranian Adults

Leptin, as an adipokine, plays a role in the regulation of metabolism and could be affected by dietary intake. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association of usual dietary intakes of fats with leptin gene expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in adults. Visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues were gathered from 97 participants aged ≥20, who had undergone elective abdominal surgery. Dietary fats including olive oil, hydrogenated oil, non-hydrogenated oil, and animal fat were collected using a valid and reliable food-frequency questionnaire. Leptin gene expression in adipose tissues was measured using Real-Time PCR. A significant inverse relation was observed between olive oil intake and leptin gene expiration in subcutaneous (β=-0.441, P=0.017) and visceral (β=-0.552, P<0.001) adipose tissue. In addition a direct association was also observed between dietary animal fat and leptin gene expression in subcutaneous (β=0.328, P=0.020) and visceral (β=0.305, P=0.015) adipose tissue. Furthermore, non-hydrogenated oil consumption was inversely associated with leptin gene expression visceral adipose tissue (β=-0.348, P=0.031). Dietary intake of olive oil was inversely and animal fat was directly associated with leptin gene expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues independent of body mass index and insulin indicating the importance of fat sources on adipose tissue leptin gene expression.