Deregulated Serotonin Pathway in Women with Morbid Obesity and NAFLD
Jessica Binetti,
Laia Bertran,
David Riesco,
Carmen Aguilar,
Salomé Martínez,
Fàtima Sabench,
Jose Antonio Porras,
Javier Camaron,
Daniel Del Castillo,
Cristóbal Richart,
Teresa Auguet
Affiliations
Jessica Binetti
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Laia Bertran
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
David Riesco
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Carmen Aguilar
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Salomé Martínez
Servei Anatomia Patològica, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Fàtima Sabench
Servei de Cirurgia, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43204 Reus, Spain
Jose Antonio Porras
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Javier Camaron
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Daniel Del Castillo
Servei de Cirurgia, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43204 Reus, Spain
Cristóbal Richart
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Teresa Auguet
Grup de Recerca GEMMAIR (AGAUR)—Medicina Aplicada, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) extends from simple steatosis (SS) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Peripheral serotonin (5-HT) has become as an important regulator of different metabolic pathways. 5-HT has been related to obesity and lipid accumulation in the liver. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between the 5-HT signaling pathway and the degree of NAFLD, as well as to investigate whether peripheral 5-HT levels are related to the hepatic and jejunal mRNA abundance of serotonin receptors (HTR) in a cohort of women with morbid obesity (MO) and NAFLD. ELISA was used to quantify the serum 5-HT from normal-weight subjects (n = 26) and patients with MO (n = 58). We used RTq-PCR analysis to evaluate the relative expression of HTR in women with MO with normal liver (n = 22), SS (n = 21), and NASH (n = 15). The 5-HT was diminished in women with MO under a hypocaloric diet, regardless of the presence of NAFLD. Additionally, we report a negative correlation of 5-HT levels with metabolic syndrome criteria, suggesting that serotonin may have a protective role in obesity. Additionally, the hepatic expression of HTR2A and HTR2B were decreased in women with MO and NAFLD, but no significant differences in the HTR jejunal expression according to the presence of NAFLD were found.