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Objective: Adipose angiotensinogen has been suggested as a stimulator of adipose tissue growth and development. Therefore, the association of subcutaneous adipose angiotensinogen gene expression with human obesity was studied. Research Methods and Procedures:The study group consisted of 17 men, undergoing either gastric banding for obesity or elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (7 obese, 10 non-obese men; body mass index 22 to 51 kg/m 2 ; age 26 to 68 years). Subcutaneous adipose angiotensinogen mRNA and 18S ribosomal RNA (reference gene) levels were measured using competitive quantitative reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction. Results: Adipose angiotensinogen mRNA expression was about two times increased in obesity. The levels of 18S rRNA did not differ between the two groups. Body weight correlated independently and positively with adipose angiotensinogen mRNA expression after adjusting for differences in age and height. Discussion: Adipose angiotensinogen gene expression is elevated in obesity in men.

Intravenous immunoglobulin is used to an increasing extent in various immune-mediated diseases, but its mechanism(s) of action in vivo is incompletely understood. Previous studies have shown that intravenous immunoglobulin may interfere with autoantibodies and their production by B cells and also inhibit Fc-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity. Here we describe a novel effect of intravenous immunoglobulin on proliferation of in vitro activated peripheral blood lymphocytes and autonomously growing cell lines of various origin. Independently of whether proliferation was autonomous or induced by antigen-specific or antigen-nonspecific reagents, proliferation was inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion, as measured by reduced 3H-thymidine and BrdU uptake and cell counting. The effect was not due to cytotoxic effects of intravenous immunoglobulin and was reversible after removing the intravenous immunoglobulin by washing. The IgG levels required for this inhibition of proliferation are supraphysiological but are reached in vivo during treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin.

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