When fat cells in the body are stuffed with excess fat, the surrounding tissue becomes inflamed.
That chronic, low-level inflammation is one of the driving factors behind many of the diseases associated with obesity.
In a new study, researchers have discovered a type of cell responsible for triggering this inflammation in fat tissue.
The finding could eventually lead to new ways to treat obesity.
The research was conducted by UT Southwestern scientists.
When a person consumes more calories than needed, the excess calories are stored in the form of triglycerides inside fat tissue, also known as white adipose tissue (WAT).
Researchers know that in obese people, WAT becomes overworked, fat cells begin to die, and immune cells become activated.
But the exact mechanism by which this inflammation occurs isn’t fully understood.
In the study, the team focused on new cells—dubbed fibro-inflammatory progenitors, or FIPs—that produced signals that encouraged inflammation.
Within just one day of switching young male mice to a high-fat diet, they discovered that the FIPs quickly increased the number of inflammatory molecules produced.
After 28 days on a high-fat diet, they found a substantial increase in the proportion of FIPs.
This is the first study to demonstrate that these cells play a very active, early role in being gatekeepers of inflammation in fat tissue.
The team say the inflammation of fat cells in obese individuals is linked to many of the comorbidities in overweight—cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and infection.
By identifying these cells, they have taken a step toward understanding some of the initial events that contribute to that inflammation.
One author of the study is Rana Gupta, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine.
The study is published in Nature Metabolism.
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