Pathological changes in adipose tissue of obese mice

Abstract

Gonadal and perirenal fat pads from markedly obese mice show pathological changes associated with the appearance of many large macrophages, small mononuclear cells resembling lymphocytes, and polymorphonuclear cells. The first recognizable changes are always associated with necrosis of the fat cell membrane. Advanced stages also show reduction of the number of fat cells, formation of large fat vacuoles and cysts, and predominance of innumerable pathological cells. The extent of tissue changes varies considerably even within one fat pad but is dependent on the degree and duration of obesity. Animals weighing less than 45 gm are only occasionally, heavier mice almost regularly, affected. The nitrogen content of normally healthy adipose tissue decreases as the animals grow older and fatter, while fat pads exhibiting tissue pathology show the expected increase in the protein and water content, and a reduction of the lipid content. The pathological changes were observed

Measuring committed preadipocytes in human adipose tissue from severely obese patients by using adipocyte fatty acid binding protein

“…It is interesting that we found more aP2 Ϫ macrophages in omental fat than subcutaneous fat in these severely obese patients. A greater number of macrophages in adipose tissue of murine models of obesity have been reported (21,45). This process was more apparent in intra-abdominal depots than in the subcutaneous depot in mice (21).…”

“…A greater number of macrophages in adipose tissue of murine models of obesity have been reported (21,45). This process was more apparent in intra-abdominal depots than in the subcutaneous depot in mice (21). The presence of macrophages correlates with increasing weight and fat cell size and occurred primarily by recruitment of monocytes from the circulation in mice (44).…”

Foundations of Immunometabolism and Implications for Metabolic Health and Disease

“…These observations later inspired studies connecting the anti-diabetic effects of high dose salsalate with inflammatory signaling (discussed below). In addition, careful pathologists examining tissues of animal models of obesity in the 1960s had reported the infiltration of immune cells, such as macrophages and mast cells, into the adipose tissue (Hausberger, 1966; Hellman, 1965), but this mostly escaped the attention of scientists, including myself, until much later. Hence, despite all of these early observations and lines of evidence, the potential for an immunological nature of metabolic disease and its relation to obesity was largely disregarded for decades, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to abnormal insulin action, production, and glucose metabolism in obesity remained elusive.…”

Tissue Immunometabolism: Development, Physiology, and Pathobiology

“…Although evidence for crosstalk between immunity and metabolism has sporadically existed in the literature for quite some time (Ardawi and Newsholme, 1983; Hausberger, 1966; Williamson, 1901), the contemporary fields of cellular and tissue immunometabolism can trace their origins to a handful of pivotal papers. For cellular immunometabolism, the classic paper by Thompson and colleagues in 2002 demonstrated that the costimulation of T cells with anti-CD28 increased glucose uptake and glycolysis to support anaplerotic metabolism of proliferating lymphocytes (Frauwirth et al, 2002).…”