Researchers Probe the Role of Fat Cells in Inflammation

Researchers assessed three types of adipokines—chemerin, leptin and adiponectin—in 100 SSc patients and 30 matched controls. They found all three types of adipokines were reduced in the SSc patients.

They also found that adipokine levels directly correlated with a more aggressive pattern on nailfold videocapillaroscopy.

Further, they found, patients with greater lung capacity—a diffusion level of carbon monoxide of at least 50%—had higher levels of adiponectin than patients with lung capacity below that threshold.

The downregulation of adipokines in the context of more severe disease, Dr. Bosello said, “suggests a possible role of chemerin, leptin and adiponectin in the impaired angiogenesis and in the development of vasculopathy of SSc patients.”

Fat-Associated Lymphoid Clusters

Dr. Caamaño

Jorge Caamaño, PhD, a reader in cellular immunology at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., discussed his group’s latest findings on fat-associated lymphoid clusters (FALCs)—platforms that form quickly after infection or injury to help coordinate interaction among immune cells, and that support innate and adaptive immune responses.³

The group has recently shown that bacteria and helminth infections bring about a big increase in the number of FALCs, with recruitment of B and T lymphocytes and macrophages.

Dr. Caamaño suggested that immune lymphoid cells, a group of innate immune cells, in FALCs are early responders to intestinal infections and spur expression of cytokines, depending on the infecting agent and the metabolism of the host. Their work is continuing.

“It is essential to understand the mechanisms that induce FALC formation and their function in intestinal infection and inflammation,” Dr. Caamaño said, “in order to facilitate immune responses and to control the deleterious reactions during chronic inflammatory diseases.”

Thomas R. Collins is a freelance writer living in South Florida.

References

1. Christ A, Gunther P, Lauterbach MAR, et al. Western diet triggers NLRP3-dependent innate immune reprogramming. Cell. 2018 Jan 11;172(1–2):162–175.e14.
2. Bosello S, De Lorenzis E, Canestrari G, et al. Adipocytokines imbalance is associated with vascular damage in systemic sclerosis [abstract OP0107]. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018 Jun 14;77(suppl):A104.
3. Cruz-Migoni S, Caamaño J. Fat-associated lymphoid clusters in inflammation and immunity. Front Immunol. 2016 Dec 21;7:612.