Putative PPAR target genes express highly in skeletal muscle of insulin-resistant MetS model SHR/NDmc-cp rats.

It is known that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle induces subsequent metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, which genes are altered in the skeletal muscle by development of insulin resistance in animal models has not been examined. In this study, we performed microarray and subsequent real-time RT-PCR analyses using total RNA extracted from the gastrocnemius muscle of the MetS model, spontaneously hypertensive corpulent congenic (SHR/NDmc-cp) rats, and control Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. SHR/NDmc-cp rats displayed overt insulin resistance relative to WKY rats. The expression of many genes related to fatty acid oxidation was higher in SHR/NDmc-cp rats than in WKY rats. Among 18 upregulated genes, putative peroxisome proliferator responsive elements were found in the upstream region of 15 genes. The protein expression of ACOX2, an upregulated gene, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) G1, but not of PPARG2, PPARA or PPARD, was higher in the gastrocnemius muscle of SHR/NDmc-cp rats than that in WKY rats. These results suggest that insulin resistance in the MetS model, SHR/NDmc-cp rats, is positively associated with the expression of fatty acid oxidation-related genes, which are presumably PPARs’ targets, in skeletal muscle.