Assessment of Periprostatic and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Lipolysis and Adipocyte Size from Men with Localized Prostate Cancer

Abstract

The prostate is surrounded by periprostatic adipose tissue (PPAT), the thickness of which has been associated with more aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). There are limited data regarding the functional characteristics of PPAT, how it compares to subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and whether in a setting of localized PCa, these traits are altered by obesity or disease aggressiveness. PPAT and SAT were collected from 60 men (age: 42–78 years, BMI: 21.3–35.6 kg/m2) undergoing total prostatectomy for PCa. Compared to SAT, adipocytes in PPAT were smaller, had the same basal rates of fatty acid release (lipolysis) yet released less polyunsaturated fatty acid species, and were more sensitive to isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis. Basal lipolysis of PPAT was increased in men diagnosed with less aggressive PCa (Gleason score (GS) ≤ 3 + 4) compared to men with more aggressive PCa (GS ≥ 4 + 3) but no other measured adipocyte parameters related to PCa aggressiveness. Likewise, there was no difference in PPAT lipid biology between lean and obese men. In conclusion, lipid biological features of PPAT do differ from SAT; however, we did not observe any meaningful difference in ex vivo PPAT biology that is associated with PCa aggressiveness or obesity. As such, our findings do not support a relationship between altered PCa behavior in obese men and the metabolic reprogramming of PPAT.

Dysfunctional adiposity index as a marker of adipose tissue morpho-functional abnormalities and metabolic disorders in apparently healthy subjects

“…Five fields of the captured images were taken per slide in varying parts of the fat biopsies of each patient. Adipocytes size was measured by converting pixels into microns using Adiposoft (ImageJ) software with the following parameters: minimum diameter 10 µm, maximum diameter 1000 µm, and microns per pixel 0.439 [ 36 ] The mean adipocytes area (µm 2 ) and the number of adipocytes (per field) were determined in a blinded manner taking into account all the adipocytes of each patient’s five fields. After completing the automated analyses of the number and area of adipocytes measurements, each value was checked manually to ensure that it represented a single adipocyte to prevent errors that may have occurred during automated analyses.…”

Prognostic Value of CT-Attenuation and 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake of Periprostatic Adipose Tissue in Patients with Prostate Cancer

“…In this study, the CT-attenuation and FDG uptake of PPAT were significantly higher than those of SAT and VAT. This suggests that PPAT exhibits more prominent inflammatory and fibrotic changes than SAT and VAT in prostate cancer patients, which might be caused by the aforementioned bidirectional crosstalk between prostate cancer cells and PPAT [ 10 , 14 , 15 ]. Moreover, CT attenuation and FDG uptake of PPAT showed a positive moderate correlation, which is closer than those of SAT and VAT, indicating that the qualitative changes in PPAT could lead to changes in both CT-attenuation and FDG uptake.…”

“…PPAT is generally defined as adipose tissue that surrounds the prostate gland [ 10 , 14 ]. PPAT is often considered as a part of VAT, but it is not located within the peritoneal cavity and has different biological characteristics from VAT and SAT [ 10 , 14 , 15 ]. In vitro studies revealed that PPAT could lead to the development of prostate cancer, and crosstalk between tumor cells and PPAT cells was found to significantly contribute to the proliferation, progression, and dissemination of prostate cancer [ 10 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Dysfunctional Adiposity Index as a Useful Clinical Tool for Early Identification of Adipose Tissue Morpho-Functional Abnormalities and Cardiometabolic Disorders in Apparently Healthy Subjects

“…Adipocytes size was measured by converting pixels into microns utilizing Adiposoft (ImageJ) software with the following parameters: minimum diameter 10 µm, maximum diameter 1000 µm and microns per pixel 0.439 as previously described. [36] The mean adipocytes area (µm 2 ) and number of adipocytes (per eld) were determined in a blinded manner by taking into account all the adipocytes of the 5 elds of each patient. After completing the automated analyzes of the counting and area adipocytes measurements, each value in the data table was checked manually to ensure that it represented a single adipocyte in order to prevent errors that may occur during automated analyzes.…”