Transcriptomic Evidence that Cortisol Alters Perinatal Epicardial Adipose Tissue Maturation.

This study investigates the effects of cortisol on epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), a visceral fat pad associated with adverse cardiovascular conditions in adults. Pregnant ewes were treated with either 1 mg/kg/day cortisol from 115 days gestation to term and EAT collected from term fetuses (control: n=8, maternal cortisol 1 mg/kg/day: n=6). To compare the effects of cortisol to the normal maturation in EAT, we also modeled the normal changes in gene expression in EAT at the transition from in utero to postnatal life using the EAT from control fetuses and from two-week-old lambs (control: n=7).), Transcriptomic modeling was used to identify pathways altered by maternal cortisol over-exposure. Transcriptomic modeling confirmed the brown fat phenotype of EAT at term and a transition towards white fat at two weeks of age in EAT of control fetuses/lambs, and highlighted a role of immune responses, including complement-coagulation, and serotonin in this transition. Maternal cortisol (1mg/kg/day) increased the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal in EAT of term fetuses, but did not affect the number of activated macrophages or size of the lipid droplets in the depot; transcriptomics suggested an earlier metabolic maturation of EAT via, in part, increased immune responses. PMID: 31322429 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Endocrinology and Metabolism - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab Source Type: research