Improvements in Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Using Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Γ Ligand, Rosiglitazone

Abstract

were confirmed to be adipocytes by light microscopy. Gene expression levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Although adipocyte size measurements between IR and IS groups did not differ significantly, the IR group had a higher small to large cell ratio (1.66Ϯ 1.03 vs. 0.94 Ϯ 0.50, P ≤0.05). Adiponectin, PPAR␥1, PPAR␥2, and GLUT4 all showed 2-3 fold lower levels of expression in the IR group (n=5) compared to the IS group (n=5). In contrast, there were no significant differences in Adipsin and SREBP-1c expression in both groups. Conclusions: Our observation of a bimodal distribution of small and large cells in both IR and IS groups, and a larger ratio of small adipocytes in IR compared to IS individuals is a novel finding. Gene expression analysis suggests that there is probably a decrease in differentiation since GLUT4 and Adiponectin, known markers of terminal adipocyte differentiation, were significantly decreased in the IR group. However since SREBP-1c and Adipsin were not differentially expressed in both groups more work will need to be done to further characterize the adipocyte differences in the IR and IS groups and to determine the significance of adipocyte size and insulin resistance status.