CIDEC is most closely associated with fat storage in human adipose tissue among CIDE family isoforms in severely obese subjects: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

The cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector (CIDE) family comprises CIDEA, CIDEB, and CIDEC (fat-specific protein of 27 kDa), all of which are lipid droplet-associated proteins and contribute to fat storage and energy homeostasis. However, the relative impacts of these isoforms on fat storage in adipose tissue and obesity in humans have been unclear. We here examined the expression of CIDE family genes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of obese individuals who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and explored its relation to adiposity-related parameters. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that CIDEA and CIDEC were highly expressed in VAT, whereas CIDEB was expressed at a substantially lower level. CIDEA and CIDEC expression levels were positively correlated with body fat mass and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) area, whereas CIDEB expression was negatively correlated with these markers. In addition, CIDEC and CIDEB expression levels showed positive and negative correlations, respectively, with BMI. Multivariable regression analysis showed that only CIDEC expression was significantly associated with body fat mass. Stratification of the subjects according to tertiles of CIDEC expression revealed that BMI, body fat mass, and SAT area were significantly greater in the highest CIDEC expression group than in the other two groups. Our findings thus suggest that, among CIDE isoforms, CIDEC is the most closely associated with fat storage in human adipose tissue.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13340-025-00806-0.

Keywords: Adipose tissue; CIDEC; Fat mass; Obesity.