Plasma HSP70 Levels Correlate with Health Risk Factors and Insulin Resistance in African American Subjects

The family of heat shock proteins works at the cellular level to protect cells against many chronically and acutely induced stressful conditions. The induction of certain family members, such as HSP70 and HSP90 via a heat shock factor 1 activated pathway, may have broad therapeutic benefits in the treatment of various types of tissue trauma and metabolic diseases. HSPs with their ability to improve cytoprotective functions and enhance tissue regeneration, off er a new potential in treating conditions such as diabetes and obesity. We hypothesized that the plasma levels of HSP70 and/or HSP90 would be significantly lower in obese than non-obese African American men and women. The objective of the study was to provide an analysis of plasma HSP70 and HSP90 concentrations of African American subjects grouped according to widely accepted health risk indices and insulin resistance. Comparisons of HSP70 and HSP90 concentrations by BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference, insulin resistance, plasma cortisol levels and gender were conducted. HSP70 concentration inversely correlated with BMI, percentage body fat, waist circumference, and insulin resistance. No significant correlation was observed for HSP90 concentration with the aforementioned indices. Our results show that high risk health conditions, such as obesity and type-2 diabetes, may be associated with compromised expression of specific heat shock proteins such as HSP70.