Obesity Alters B Cell and Macrophage Populations in Brown Adipose Tissue.

ABSTRACT: The prevalence of obesity continues to rise, and it is understood that regulation of white adipose tissue (WAT) function is important to systemic metabolic homeostasis. Immune cells play a central role in the maintenance of WAT, and their compositions change in number and inflammatory phenotype with the progression of obesity. Because of its energy-burning capabilities, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has become a focus of obesity research. Although novel studies have focused on the function of brown adipocytes in thermogenesis, the tissue as a whole has not been immunologically characterized.BAT immune cell populations were analyzed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry in mice with diet-induced obesity (3, 8, or 16 weeks of diet) and in aged mice (1, 6-7, and 10-15 months).The data confirmed the presence of macrophages and eosinophils, as previously reported, and showed that 20% to 30% of the immune cells in BAT were B cells. The number of B cells and eosinophils increased with diet-induced obesity, whereas macrophages decreased. There was no change in number of any immune cell quantified with age.These studies reveal a novel finding of B220?+?B cells in BAT and show that BAT immune cell populations change in response to diet-induced obesity.

SUBMITTER: Peterson KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5679082 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature