Key result
Adipose inflammation links to metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, not carotid atherosclerosis, especially in men.
Why the study?
Adipose tissue inflammation predisposes to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in obesity, but its sex-specific associations with metabolic and atherosclerotic complications remain to be fully defined.
Is adipose tissue inflammation associated with metabolic and atherosclerotic complications of obesity in a sex-specific manner in adults with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2?
Cross-Sectional (n=302)
No
Is adipose tissue inflammation associated with metabolic and atherosclerotic complications of obesity in a sex-specific manner in adults with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2?
Inflammation in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue is more strongly related to metabolic than atherosclerotic complications of obesity, with these associations being significantly more pronounced in men.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
AT inflammation links more to metabolic than atherosclerotic complications of obesity, stronger in men; leaves open causal roles and targeted interventions.
CONTEXT: Adipose tissue (AT) inflammation predisposes to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in obesity. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between adipocyte size, AT inflammation, systemic inflammation, and metabolic and atherosclerotic complications of obesity in a sex-specific manner. DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort study. SETTING: University hospital in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 302 adult subjects with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 27 kg/m2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We obtained subcutaneous abdominal fat biopsies and systematically assessed, in a sex-specific manner, associations of several parameters of AT inflammation (including adipocyte size, macrophage content, crown-like structures, and gene expression) to biomarkers of systemic inflammation, leukocyte number and function, and to the presence of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and carotid atherosclerotic plaques, assessed with ultrasound. RESULTS: Adipocyte size was associated with metabolic syndrome and AT macrophage content with insulin resistance. In contrast, none of the AT parameters was associated with carotid atherosclerosis, although mRNA expression of the anti-inflammatory IL-37 was associated with a lower intima-media thickness. We revealed profound sex-specific differences, with an association between BMI and adipocyte size, and between adipocyte size and metabolic syndrome in men only. Also, only men showed an association between adipocyte size, AT expression of leptin and MCP-1, and AT macrophage numbers, and between AT inflammation (crown-like structure number) and several circulating inflammatory proteins, including high specificity C-reactive protein, and IL-6. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue is more related to the metabolic than the atherosclerotic complications of obesity, and there are profound sex-specific differences in the association between BMI, adipocyte size, AT inflammation, and systemic inflammation, which are much stronger in men than women.
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Cossins et al. (2023) conducted a cross-sectional in Obesity (n=302). Adipose tissue inflammation and adipocyte size was evaluated on Metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Adipose tissue inflammation and adipocyte size were associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, but not carotid atherosclerosis, with stronger associations observed in men.
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