Association of miR-34a and miR-143 levels with PPARγ gene expression in adipose tissues of non-diabetic adults

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a promising therapeutic molecule. Epigenetic mechanisms, including non-coding RNAs, regulate the expression level of the PPARγ gene. We aimed to examine the PPARγ expression in non-diabetic individuals in four body mass index (BMI) categories and its association with miR-34a and miR-143 expression. Visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues (VAT and SAT) samples were collected from patients undergoing bariatric or elective open abdominal surgeries. The subjects (mean age: 42±14.8 years) included 18 normal-weight, 19 overweight, 18 obese, and 19 morbidly obese individuals. The RNAs levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The PPARγ expression was significantly upregulated in both adipose depots of the morbidly obese subjects compared to the normal group. SAT PPARγ level was significantly increased in the obese group compared to the normal-weight group (P<0.01); this increase was also significant in the SAT of morbidly obese subjects compared to the overweight cases (P=0.02). Differences in the regulation of PPARγ expression in both SAT and VAT were significant between the four groups (P<0.05). While miR-143 was overexpressed in the SAT of obese and morbidly obese individuals compared to the normal-weight group, the pairwise comparison showed no significant difference in the miR-34a expression of SAT between the four BMI groups (P>0.01). After controlling for the confounding factors, the expression of VAT PPARγ was directly associated with the miR-34a level in the normal-weight group (β=0.311, P=0.010). A negative association was observed between the VAT PPARγ expression and miR-34a expression in obese cases (β = − 0.594, P=0.039). The results also confirmed the regulatory function of microRNAs in the PPARγ expression and adipogenesis.