The tumor necrosis factor system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes (DM), by a complex and only partially understood mechanism. In this study we analyze the mRNA expression levels of TNFalpha and its receptors (TNFR1 and TNFR2), in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from eleven, non-morbid, obese and 14, obese, type 2 DM women, by real-time quantitative PCR. We show an increase in the TNFR2 to TNFR1 ratio (mTNFR2/mTNFR1) in type 2 DM (r = 0.63; p = 0.021, after adjusting for age). Likewise, a positive correlation between mTNFR2/mTNFR1 and glucose was observed (r = 0.5; p = 0.029) in the whole group. We performed an oral glucose tolerance test with 75 g of glucose in obese, non-diabetic women in order to evaluate the effect of an acute glucose increase on the tumor necrosis factor system at 60 min and 120 min. We show that except for a positive association of mTNFR1 with body mass index at 60 min and of mTNFR2 with plasmatic triglycerids levels, no other significant differences were elicited by acute glucose in obese, non-diabetic women. These findings are in agreement with a functional role for the TNF system in obese women in obesity-linked, type 2 diabetes.
Copyright John Libbey Eurotext 2003.