The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Researchers Probe the Role of Fat Cells in Inflammation

Researchers Probe the Role of Fat Cells in Inflammation

September 20, 2018 • By Thomas R. Collins

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Kateryna Kon / shutterstock.com

Kateryna Kon / shutterstock.com

AMSTERDAM—It’s been many years since adipose tissue came to be appreciated not just as a store of energy, but also as a regulator of metabolism and an important player in immune function. Rheumatology researchers continue to drill down into the role of fat cells in the search for mechanisms that could reveal targets for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, and experts shared recent findings in a session at EULAR: the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology.

You Might Also Like
  • 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Fat’s Role in Inflammation
  • What Fat Does to Arthritis
  • Study Reveals Role of IL-17–Secreting CD4+ T Cells in Lupus
Explore This Issue
September 2018
Also By This Author
  • Tips for Using Digital Health Tools

Response to the Western Diet

Henk Schipper, MD, PhD, a pediatric cardiology fellow at University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands who specializes in the study of adipose tissue, said the understanding of adipose tissue has continued to deepen over the past 30 years, with such milestones as the discovery of the hormone leptin and adipose tissue macrophages. The volume of work in the field has soared.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Recently, an international group of investigators found that mice on a high-fat, high-glucose Western diet showed a more aggressive response to stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) than control mice, but that this response was long lasting—seen again weeks after the mice were put back on a normal chow diet.1 This lasting response must mean the Western diet causes a fundamental change in the mice, the researchers say.

Dr. Schipper

Dr. Schipper

“What they claim in this paper … is that there must be transcriptomic, epigenomic changes induced by the Western diet to really have long-lasting effects on the response of the immune cells,” Dr. Schipper said. “This is definitely something that’s also relevant for many rheumatoid disorders.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Dr. Schipper said he is optimistic about the potential for therapeutic breakthroughs that can repair the “holes” that arise when the relationship between fat tissue and immune function is disrupted.

“There has been a huge increase in papers dealing with adipose-tissue immunology, adipose-tissue inflammation and immune-metabolism over the last few decades,” he said. “This is supposed to be the era of translation. Hopefully in the next few years we’ll see a lot of trials—and successful trials—to fix these holes in the co-evolution of adipose tissue and immunology.”

‘There must be transcriptomic, epigenomic changes induced by the Western diet to really have long-lasting effects on the response of the immune cells,’ Dr. Schipper said.

Adipokines

Silvia Bosello, MD, PhD, professor of rheumatology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, presented findings on how adipokines—proteins produced by white adipose tissue that are involved with endothelial cell homeostasis and angiogenesis and that regulate the immune response and systemic inflammatory process—are reduced in systemic sclerosis (SSc).2

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions Tagged With: adipose tissue, fatIssue: September 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Fat’s Role in Inflammation
  • What Fat Does to Arthritis
  • Study Reveals Role of IL-17–Secreting CD4+ T Cells in Lupus
  • Mouse Model Suggests Regulatory T Cells Play Important Role in Sjögren’s Syndrome Pathophysiology

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)