Influence of fatty acid enriched diets on white and brown adipose tissue distribution in goats

im of the project was to investigate the possible influence of fatty acid enriched diets on white (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissue distribution among different subcutaneous and visceral deposits in goats by mRNA quantitative expression of Uncoupling Protein 1 (UCP1) and Uncoupling Protein 2 (UCP2). Samples were obtained from ten 29.8±2.8 days old healthy suckling kids whose mothers were fed with either two different diets (A and B) enriched with different fatty acids (Stearic Acid=diet A, Fish Oil=diet B). Seven different adipose tissue samples were taken from each animal, equally distributed between controls, diet A and diet B. Subcutaneous fat was taken from sternum, armpit cavity, base of the tail and withers; visceral fat was taken from perirenal, omental and pericardial depots. Tissues were also collected from the liver as reference samples. Tissue samples for the mRNA expression analysis were immediately kept in RNAlater and stored at –80°C. Total RNA was extracted using a commercial kit specific for tissues with high-fat content (Qiagen) and then retro-transcribed using the iScript kit Biorad. The resulting cDNA was finally amplified using a Real Time PCR. Relative expression of both UCP1 and UCP2 was calculated with the comparative ∆∆Ct method, using HPCAL1, GAPDH and LRP10 as reference genes. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out as well. Real Time PCR results showed different expression of UCP1 and UCP2 between subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue depots, but not among different diets. In particular, UCP1 (exclusively expressed in brown adipose tissue) is mostly expressed in visceral adipose tissue deposits. In conclusion, brown and white adipose tissue are clearly differently distributed among subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue deposits in kids even though changes in mother’s diet have no influence on their distribution.