Altered pattern of cannabinoid type 1 receptor expression in adipose tissue of dysmetabolic and overweight patients.

In overweight patients (OW), the increased peripheral activity of the endocannabinoid system in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) may be mediated by cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor expression. We determined whether CB1 receptor splice variants and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in perirenal and subcutaneous adipose tissues are associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Gene expression with multiple-primers real-time polymerase chain reaction (TaqMan; Applied Biosystem, Weiterstadt, Germany) was performed to study VAT and paired subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) mRNA from 36 consecutive patients undergoing nephrectomy.