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. 2021 Aug 5;11(8):2308.
doi: 10.3390/ani11082308.

Effects of Obesity on Adiponectin System Skin Expression in Dogs: A Comparative Study

Cecilia Dall'Aglio  1 , Margherita Maranesi  1 , Antonio Di Loria  2 , Diego Piantedosi  2 , Paolo Ciaramella  2 , Maria Chiara Alterisio  2 , Elvio Lepri  1 , Francesca Mercati  1
Affiliations

Effects of Obesity on Adiponectin System Skin Expression in Dogs: A Comparative Study

Cecilia Dall'Aglio et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Obesity is an important health issue in dogs since it influences a plethora of associated pathologies, including dermatological disorders. Considering the scarcity of information in pets, this work aimed to evaluate the localization and expression of adiponectin (ADIPOQ) and its two receptors (ADIPOR1 and ADIPOR2) in the skin of 10 obese dogs, compared with serum ADIPOQ level. Through immunohistochemistry, ADIPOQ and ADIPOR2 were observed in the adipose tissue, sweat and sebaceous glands, endothelium, and some connective cells. Both receptors were observed in the epidermis and the hair follicles, other than in the sweat and sebaceous glands. Real-time PCR evidenced that the ADIPOQ and ADIPOR2 transcripts were expressed 5.4-fold (p < 0.01) and 2.3-fold less (p < 0.01), respectively, in obese than in normal weight dogs, while ADIPOR1 expression did not change. Obese dogs showed lower serum ADIPOQ levels than the normal weight group. Accordingly, ADIPOQ and ADIPOR2 expression in the skin appear negatively correlated with obesity in the same way as the serum ADIPOQ level. These findings evidence that ADIPOQ system changes in the skin of obese dogs and suggest that the ADIPOQ effect on the skin is at least in part regulated by the reduced expression of ADIPOR2.

Keywords: ADIPOQ; ADIPOR1; ADIPOR2; RT-qPCR; dog; immunohistochemistry; integumentary system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative photographs of typical 2% agarose ethidium bromide stained gels. The presence of the expected bp products yielded after RT-qPCR using primers for target ADIPOQ and its receptors (ADIPOR1 and ADIPOR2) are shown. Lane LD is the kilobase DNA marker, CTR- is the negative control, lane NwG (normal weight group) and ObG (obese group) identify two skin samples belonging to the two experimental groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunostaining for ADIPOQ (a,d,g,j), ADIPOR1 (b,e,h,k), and ADIPOR2 (c,f,i,l). ADIPOQ (a) and ADIPOR2 (c) stained adipose tissue located among hair follicles that instead appeared negative to ADIPOR1 (b). In the sebaceous and sweat glands, positivity appeared stronger to ADIPQ (d,g) and ADIPOR2 (f,i) respect to ADIPOR1 (e,h). ADIPOQ (j) did not stain the epidermis while both receptors were observed in all epidermal cell layers (k,l).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immunostaining for ADIPOQ (a), ADIPOR1 (b,c), and ADIPOR2 (d) in primary and secondary hair follicles. (a) An ADIPQ-negative hair follicle (Hp) is close to an ADIPOQ-positive sebaceous gland (arrow). (b) A group of hair follicles positive to ADIPOR1. Staining is localized in the outer root sheath cells (asterisk). (c) A hair follicle bulb where the ADIPOR1-positive inner root sheath (arrow) is shown. (d) A group of hair follicles positive to ADIPOR2. Positivity can be observed in the outer root sheath cells (asterisk).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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