Does adipose tissue trigger inflammation?

The triggers for adipose tissue inflammation are still poorly defined. However, obesity-induced adipose tissue expansion provides a plethora of intrinsic signals (e.g., adipocyte death, hypoxia, and mechanical stress) capable of initiating the inflammatory response.

What happens when adipocytes enlarge?

Small adipocytes in lean individuals promote metabolic homeostasis; the enlarged adipocytes of obese individuals recruit macrophages and promote inflammation and the release of a range of factors that predispose toward insulin resistance.

How does adipose tissue affect obesity?

Obesity is associated with adverse alterations in adipose tissue that predispose to metabolic dysregulation. These adverse alterations include accumulation of inflammatory macrophages leading to the activation of inflammation pathways, reduction in lipid turnover, and deposition of fat in ectopic locations.

What is adipose tissue disorders?

People with subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) diseases have fat within this compartment that grows abnormally in amount or structure, often causing pain and other discomfort. Subcutaneous adipose tissue is loose connective tissue, or adipofascia, which is the most common type of connective tissue in vertebrates.

What happens if adipose tissue is damaged?

More commonly, too much adipose tissue leads to obesity, mainly from too much visceral fat. Obesity leads to a number of serious health problems. Obesity increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as it causes the body to become resistant to insulin.

What is the main function of adipose tissue?

Lying three layers deep under the skin, the adipose tissue is composed of a loose collection of specialized cells, called adipocytes, embedded in a mesh of collagen fibers. Its main role in the body is function as a fuel tank for the storage of lipids and triglycerides.

What diseases affect adipose tissue?

Excess adiposity, or obesity, is a major risk factor in several disease states including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hepatic steatosis and at least 13 types of cancers [2–5].

How do adipocytes grow?

Adipose tissue grows by two mechanisms: hyperplasia (cell number increase) and hypertrophy (cell size increase). Genetics and diet affect the relative contributions of these two mechanisms to the growth of adipose tissue in obesity.

How does adipose tissue affect diabetes?

In adipose tissue, leptin inhibits insulin binding, insulin-mediated glucose transport, lipogenesis, and glycogen synthase activity. In addition, leptin plays a role in areas other than fuel metabolism including fetal growth, puberty, hematopoiesis, and thermogenesis.