T cells are elevated in abdominal and femoral adipose tissue in females with type 2 diabetes

Abstract Adipose tissue (AT) immune cells are implicated in the pathology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and their content likely differs between abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (abSAT), femoral SAT (fmSAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT). Therefore, the objective of the current study was to develop an understanding of how immune cell presence differs between abSAT, fmSAT, and VAT depots in females who are lean (NO), with obesity (OB), or OB+T2D. Premenopausal females were recruited from the community (NO, n=14) or bariatric surgery clinics (OB, n=10 & OB+T2D, n=8) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. abSAT and fmSAT were obtained by needle aspiration biopsy in all participants, while VAT was excised from the OB and OB+T2D groups during surgery. Adipose tissue immune cells were isolated from adipose tissue biopsies and stained for quantification via flow cytometry. OB+T2D fmSAT had greater T cells (CD3+) than NO groups, with no difference between NO and OB groups. We further find that abSAT CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+ and CD68+CD206+ cells were greater in the OB+T2D group, followed by the OB group and then NO participants. There were no regional differences in T cells, macrophages, NK cells or B cells between individuals with OB vs. OB+T2D. Our findings indicate that the importance of fmSAT and abSAT T cells in T2D pathogenesis should be further investigated.