(17-05-07) Obesity, fat distribution, and comorbidity affect inflammation and stress response in adipose tissue

Inflammatory and stress responses in adipose tissue differ depending on the type and distribution of adipose tissue and the presence of co-morbidity, a new study suggests.
Obesity is thought to be accompanied by inflammation and stress response activation in adipose tissue, but whether these processes occur uniformly in all types of adipose tissue is unclear. It is also unknown whether the distribution of adipose tissue or presence of obesity-related co-morbidity affects these events.
To answer these questions, a group of researchers led by Dr Assaf Rudich of Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Israel, characterized paired samples of omental and subcutaneous fat obtained from two independent cohorts. The samples were assessed for macrophage infiltration, expression and activation of stress-activated kinases, and antioxidative enzymes at the protein and/or mRNA level.
The researchers found that abdominal subcutaneous fat and omental fat differed with regard to the degree of macrophage infiltration, stress kinases, and antioxidative enzymes. These differences appeared to be intrinsic and were seen in both lean and obese individuals.
Fat samples from obese individuals had increased macrophage infiltration, compared with lean individuals. This increase was particularly pronounced in patients with central adiposity, and in omental adipose tissue. Levels of some stress-related kinases, such as MAPK and JNK, were increased in obese individuals. However, other kinases, such as ERK and IKK-NFkB were found in similar amounts in both patient groups.
Notably, the degree of macrophage infiltration in omental fat in severely obese women (mean body mass index 43 kg/m2) correlated with clinical parameters of the metabolic syndrome. A correlation between these parameters and subcutaneous fat was not found.
Based on these data, Dr Rudich concluded that omental adipose tissue had increased markers of inflammation and stress response, compared with abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. Obesity exaggerated these findings, he noted, particularly when centrally distributed or accompanied by co-morbidity.

Source: Data presented by A Rudich at the 2nd International Congress on ?Prediabetes? and the Metabolic Syndrome, Epidemiology, Management and Prevention of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease, Barcelona, Spain, 25-28 April 2007.

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