Adipose-resident T-cells (ARTs) regulate metabolic and inflammatory responses in obesity, but ART activation signals are poorly understood. Here, we describe class II major histocompatibility complex (MHCII) as an important component of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Microarray analysis of primary adipocytes revealed that multiple genes involved in MHCII antigen processing and presentation increased in obese women. In mice, adipocyte MHCII increased within two weeks HFD, paralleling increases in pro-inflammatory and decreases in anti-inflammatory ART markers, and preceding adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) accumulation and pro-inflammatory M1 polarization. Mouse 3T3-L1 and primary adipocytes activated T-cells in an antigen-specific, contact-dependent manner, indicating adipocyte MHCII is functional. HFD-fed MHCII−/− mice developed less adipose inflammation and insulin resistance than wild-type mice, despite developing similar adiposity. These investigations uncover a mechanism whereby a HFD-induced adipocyte/ART dialogue involving MHCII instigates adipose inflammation and, together with ATM MHCII, escalates its progression.

PAI-1 can regulate TGF-beta expression by binding to uPAR and activating the extracellular-regulated signal kinase (ERK)/MAPK pathway. Therefore, PAI-1 contributes to diabetic nephropathy by regulating TGF-beta and renal ECM production and may be a therapeutic target in diabetic nephropathy.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common complication of obesity that can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a serious liver pathology that can advance to cirrhosis. The mechanisms responsible for NAFLD progression to NASH remain unclear. Lack of a suitable animal model that faithfully recapitulates the pathophysiology of human NASH is a major obstacle in delineating mechanisms responsible for progression of NAFLD to NASH and, thus, development of better treatment strategies. We identified and characterized a novel mouse model, middle-aged male low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) 2/2 mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), which developed NASH associated with four of five metabolic syndrome (MS) components. In these mice, as observed in humans, liver steatosis and oxidative stress promoted NASH development. Aging exacerbated the HFD-induced NASH such that liver steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative stress, and liver injury markers were greatly enhanced in middle-aged versus young LDLR 2/2 mice. Although expression of genes mediating fatty acid oxidation and antioxidant responses were up-regulated in young LDLR 2/2 mice fed HFD, they were drastically reduced in MS mice. However, similar to recent human trials, NASH was partially attenuated by an insulin-sensitizing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARc) ligand, rosiglitazone. In addition to expected improvements in MS, newly identified mechanisms of PPARc ligand effects included stimulation of antioxidant gene expression and mitochondrial b-oxidation, and suppression of inflammation and fibrosis. LDLR-deficiency promoted NASH, because middle-aged C57BL/6 mice fed HFD did not develop severe inflammation and fibrosis, despite increased steatosis. Conclusion: MS mice represent an ideal model to investigate NASH in the context of MS, as commonly occurs in human disease, and NASH development can be substantially attenuated by PPARc activation, which enhances b-oxidation. (HEPATOLOGY 2010;52:2001-2011 N onalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most common liver disease in the Western world, affecting more than 18% of obese individuals.1 NASH is strongly associated with insulin resistance, and nearly five out of six NASH patients have metabolic syndrome (MS).2 NASH can progress to cirrhosis, but despite its severity and prevalence, there are no approved treatments for NASH. However, the recent PIVENS trial 3 demonstrated improvement in NASH histology with either vitamin E or the insulin-sensitizing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARc) ligand, pioglitazone (PIO). The vitamin E effect underscored the critical role of oxidative stress in NASH but occurred in the absence of an Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; CPT1A, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a; DNL, de novo lipogenesis; HFD, high-fat diet; LCM, laser capture microdissection; LDLR, low-density lipoprotein receptor; MS, metabolic syndrome; NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, nonalcoholic steatohep...

Osteopontin, a secreted glycoprotein has been implicated in several renal pathological conditions such as those due to ureteral obstruction, ischemia, and cyclosporine toxicity. We studied its possible role in angiotensin II-mediated renal injury by infusing wild-type and osteopontin knockout mice with angiotensin II and found that it raised blood pressure and increased urinary albumin/creatinine ratios in both strains of mice. However, while wild-type mice responded to the infusion by macrophage infiltration and increased expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin, fibronectin, and transforming growth factor-beta; the osteopontin knockout mice developed none of these. Further, the knockout mice had increased expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; NADPH oxidase subunits such as NOX2, gp47phox, and NOX4; and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 compared to the wild type animals. Proximal tubule epithelial cells in culture treated with recombinant osteopontin and angiotensin II had increased alpha-smooth muscle actin and transforming growth factor-beta expression. The effect of angiotensin II was blocked by an antibody to osteopontin. In addition, osteopontin attenuated angiotensin II-induced plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 expression. These studies show that osteopontin is a promoter and an inhibitor of inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis that is capable of modulating angiotensin II-induced renal damage.

The profibrotic adhesion molecule, osteopontin (OPN), is upregulated in kidneys of humans and mice with diabetes. The thiazolidinedione (TZD) insulin sensitizers decrease albuminuria in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and reduce OPN expression in vascular and cardiac tissue. To examine whether OPN is a critical mediator of DN we treated db/db mice with insulin, rosiglitazone, or pioglitazone to achieve similar fasting plasma glucose levels. The urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio and glomerular OPN expression were increased in diabetic mice, but both were reduced by the TZDs more than by insulin. We administered streptozotocin to OPN-null and OPN-wild-type mice, and OPN-null mice were bred into both type 1 (Ins2(akita/+)) and 2 (db/db) diabetic mice. In each case, OPN deletion decreased albuminuria, mesangial area, and glomerular collagen IV, fibronectin and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in the diabetic mice compared with their respective controls. In cultured mouse mesangial cells, TZDs but not insulin decreased angiotensin II-induced OPN expression, while recombinant OPN upregulated TGF-beta, ERK/MAPK, and JNK/MAPK signaling. These studies show that OPN expression in DN mouse models enhances glomerular damage, likely through the expression of TGF-beta, while its deletion protects against disease progression, suggesting that OPN might serve as a therapeutic target.

Objective To determine the impact of hematopoietic deletion of nuclear factor− (erythroid-derived 2) like 2 factor (Nrf2) on the development of atherosclerosis and liver injury in an obese, hypercholesterolemic mouse model. Methods and Results Two-month-old male low-density lipoprotein receptor–deficient mice were lethally irradiated and transplanted with either wild type or Nrf2-deficient (Nrf2−/−) bone marrow cells. At 3 months of age, mice were placed on an obesogenic high-fat diet (HFD), high-cholesterol diet for 7 months. Despite no differences in body weight, body fat percentage, liver fat, plasma glucose, lipids, or insulin, the HFD-fed Nrf2−/− bone marrow recipients had increased proinflammatory vascular gene expression, a significant increase in atherosclerosis area (18% versus 28%; P=0.018) and lesion complexity, and a marked increase in liver fibrosis. The acceleration of vascular and liver injury may arise from enhanced macrophage migration, inflammation, and oxidative stress resulting from myeloid Nrf2 deficiency. Conclusion Myeloid-derived Nrf2 activity attenuates atherosclerosis development and liver inflammation and fibrosis associated with obesity. Prevention of oxidative stress in macrophage and other myeloid lineage cells may be an important therapeutic target to reduce inflammation-driven complications of obesity.

The authors have presented a novel method to automatically estimate a patient-specific reference model for the patient suffering from CMF deformity.

In obesity, reduced cardiac glucose uptake and mitochondrial abnormalities are putative causes of cardiac dysfunction. However, high-fat diet (HFD) does not consistently induce cardiac insulin resistance and mitochondrial damage, and recent studies suggest HFD may be cardioprotective. To determine cardiac responses to HFD, we investigated cardiac function, glucose uptake, and mitochondrial respiration in young (3-month-old) and middle-aged (MA) (12-month-old) male Ldlr(-/-) mice fed chow or 3 months HFD to induce obesity, systemic insulin resistance, and hyperinsulinemia. In MA Ldlr(-/-) mice, HFD induced accelerated atherosclerosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, common complications of human obesity. Surprisingly, HFD-fed mice demonstrated increased cardiac glucose uptake, which was most prominent in MA mice, in the absence of cardiac contractile dysfunction or hypertrophy. Moreover, hearts of HFD-fed mice had enhanced mitochondrial oxidation of palmitoyl carnitine, glutamate, and succinate and greater basal insulin signaling compared with those of chow-fed mice, suggesting cardiac insulin sensitivity was maintained, despite systemic insulin resistance. Streptozotocin-induced ablation of insulin production markedly reduced cardiac glucose uptake and mitochondrial dysfunction in HFD-fed, but not in chow-fed, mice. Insulin injection reversed these effects, suggesting that insulin may protect cardiac mitochondria during HFD. These results have implications for cardiac metabolism and preservation of mitochondrial function in obesity.