Healthy Subcutaneous and Omental Adipose Tissue Is Associated with High Expression of Extracellular Matrix Components

Figures

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  Figure 1. Extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition in omental and subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) of metabolically healthy lean (MHL) and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) subjects. (A) Representative images for picrosirius red staining. Scale bar for upper row = 2 mm and for the second row = 100 µm. (B–D) Comparison of total ECM staining intensity (B), fibrotic bundle staining (C), and pericellular staining (D) in omental WAT (oWAT) and subcutaneous WAT (scWAT) of 6 MHL and 15 MUO subjects. Data show the amount of stained area as a percentage of the total area and expressed as mean ± SEM and individual values (○ open circles, females; □ open squares, males); (E) Hydroxyproline content in oWAT and scWAT was measured as an indicator of total ECM collagen content in 8 MHL and 14 MUO subjects. Data expressed as mean ± SEM and individual values (○ open circles, females; □ open squares, males). Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison post-hoc test. * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01.

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  Figure 2. WAT ECM-remodeling gene expression in metabolically healthy lean (MHL) compared with metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) subjects. mRNA expression data were obtained by ddPCR and calculated as normalized copy number. Data expressed as mean ± SEM and individual values (○ open circles, females; □ open squares, males). Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison post-hoc test. * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, *** p ≤ 0.001.

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  Figure 3. Summarized main findings highlighting the differences between healthy adipose tissue in lean subjects and adipose tissue in metabolically unhealthy obese individuals. ECM, extracellular matrix.