Adipose failure through adipocyte overload and autoimmunity

Nicola Susca; Patrizia Leone; Marcella Prete; Susanna Cozzio; Vito Racanelli

doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2023.103502

Adipose failure through adipocyte overload and autoimmunity

Autoimmun Rev. 2023 Dec 13;23(3):103502. doi: 10.1016/j.autrev.2023.103502. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nicola Susca¹, Patrizia Leone¹, Marcella Prete¹, Susanna Cozzio², Vito Racanelli³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, School of Medicine, 'Aldo Moro' University of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy.
² U.O. di Medicina Interna, Ospedale di Rovereto, Azienda Sanitaria per i Servizi Provinciali di Trento, Trento, Italy.
³ Centre for Medical Sciences - CISMed, University of Trento and Department of Internal Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy. Electronic address: vito.racanelli@unitn.it.

PMID: 38101692
DOI: 10.1016/j.autrev.2023.103502

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome poses a great worldwide threat to the health of the patients. Increased visceral adiposity is recognized as the main determinant of the detrimental clinical effects of insulin resistance. Inflammation and immune system activation in the adipose tissue (AT) have a central role in the pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome, but the mechanisms linking increased adiposity to immunity in the AT remain in part elusive. In this review, we support the central role of adipocyte overload and relative adipose failure as key determinants in triggering immune aggression to AT. This provides a mechanistic explanation of the relative metabolic wellness of metabolically normal obese people and the disruption in insulin signaling in metabolically obese lean people.

Keywords: Adipocyte hypertrophy; Adipocyte overload; Immununopathogenesis; Metabolic syndrome.

Publication types

Review