Resveratrol enhances fatty acid oxidation capacity and reduces resistin and Retinol-Binding Protein 4 expression in white adipocytes

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenol known to affect energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity in mice and lipogenic gene expression in adipocytes. Here, we sought to get further insight into the impact of resveratrol on adipocyte biology by studying its effects on oxidative metabolism and the expression of the insulin resistance-related adipokines resistin and Retinol-Binding Protein 4 (RBP4) in mature adipocytes. Effects were assessed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and in adipocytes derived from primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF). Besides reducing triacylglycerol content and the mRNA levels of lipogenic genes, resveratrol treatment resulted in both models in increased mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (a rate-limiting enzyme in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation), reduced mRNA levels of receptor interacting protein 140 (a suppressor of oxidative metabolism), and signs of enhanced flux through the fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway. In primary MEF-derived adipocytes, the treatment also increased mitochondrial DNA content and the mRNA levels of subunit II of cytochrome oxidase (a component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain) and of uncoupling protein 1. Expression of resistin and RBP4 was reduced in both adipocyte models following resveratrol treatment. The results indicate that resveratrol directly acts in mature white adipocytes to favor a remodeling toward increased oxidative capacity and reduced lipogenesis, while down-regulating two putative insulin resistance factors. These results constitute novel insights into resveratrol action in adipocytes that add to the potential of this food phytochemical and its synthetic analogues for the control of obesity and related metabolic disorders.