Impact of dietary fat quantity and quality on skeletal muscle fatty acid metabolism in subjects with the metabolic syndrome

Abstract Insulin resistance is characterized by disturbances in lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle. Our aim was to investigate whether gene expression and fatty acid (FA) profile of skeletal muscle lipids are affected by diets differing in fat quantity and quality in subjects with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and varying degrees of insulin sensitivity. 84 subjects (age 57.3 ± 0.9 y, BMI 30.9 ± 0.4 kg/m2 , 42 M/42 F) were randomly assigned to one of four iso-energetic diets: high-SFA (HSFA); high-MUFA (HMUFA) or two low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diets, supplemented with 1.24 g/day of long-chain n -3 PUFA (LFHCC n -3) or control oil (LFHCC) for 12 weeks. In a subgroup of men ( n = 26), muscle TAG, DAG, FFA and phospholipid contents were determined including their fractional synthetic rate (FSR) and FA composition at fasting and 4 h after consumption of a high-fat mixed-meal, both pre- and post-intervention. Genes involved in lipogenesis were downregulated after HMUFA (mean fold change − 1.3) and after LFHCC n -3 (fold change − 1.7) in insulin resistant subjects ( median of insulin sensitivity) the opposite effect was shown (fold change + 1.6 for both diets). HMUFA diet tended to decrease FSR in TAG ( P = .055) and DAG ( P = .066), whereas the LFHCC n -3 diet reduced TAG content ( P = .032). In conclusion, HMUFA and LFHCC n -3 diets reduced the expression of the lipogenic genes in skeletal muscle of insulin resistant subjects, whilst HMUFA reduced the fractional synthesis rate of DAG and TAG and LFHCC n-3 the TAG content. Our data indicate that these diets may reduce muscle fat accumulation by affecting the balance between FA synthesis, storage and oxidation.