Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model

Abstract Obesity is a growing pandemic that increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and particularly in women also the risk of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and multiple sclerosis. Preclinical studies on obesity focus on male mice as they gain bodyw...

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Main Authors: Lisa T. Schuetz, Gayel Duran, Paulien Baeten, Daphne Lintsen, Doryssa Hermans, Sarah Chenine, Janne Verreycken, Tim Vanmierlo, Kristiaan Wouters, Bieke Broux
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:Biology of Sex Differences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00677-1
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author Lisa T. Schuetz
Gayel Duran
Paulien Baeten
Daphne Lintsen
Doryssa Hermans
Sarah Chenine
Janne Verreycken
Tim Vanmierlo
Kristiaan Wouters
Bieke Broux
author_facet Lisa T. Schuetz
Gayel Duran
Paulien Baeten
Daphne Lintsen
Doryssa Hermans
Sarah Chenine
Janne Verreycken
Tim Vanmierlo
Kristiaan Wouters
Bieke Broux
author_sort Lisa T. Schuetz
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Obesity is a growing pandemic that increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and particularly in women also the risk of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and multiple sclerosis. Preclinical studies on obesity focus on male mice as they gain bodyweight faster and show a clear pro-inflammatory phenotype. Here, using male and female mice, we induced obesity by feeding a high fat diet (HFD), and compared adipose tissue (AT) inflammation at the same adiposity stage (% AT/bodyweight) between both sexes. Doing so, we identified that female mice show an increase in the number of pro-inflammatory immune cells in the visceral AT at a lower adiposity stage than male mice, but the effect of HFD is diminished with higher adiposity. Interestingly, only female mice showed an increase in immune cells in the subcutaneous AT after HFD feeding. Nonetheless, we found that pro-inflammatory cytokines in blood plasma mirror the inflammatory stage of the visceral AT in both male and female mice. Uniquely in male mice, myeloid cells in the visceral AT showed a higher inflammasome activation upon HFD. In summary, we showed that adiposity differentially affects immune cells in fat depots based on sex.
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series Biology of Sex Differences
spelling doaj-art-482ae34d5e694bebb6a6c091b736c1212025-08-20T01:57:08ZengBMCBiology of Sex Differences2042-64102024-12-0115111410.1186/s13293-024-00677-1Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity modelLisa T. Schuetz0Gayel Duran1Paulien Baeten2Daphne Lintsen3Doryssa Hermans4Sarah Chenine5Janne Verreycken6Tim Vanmierlo7Kristiaan Wouters8Bieke Broux9Neuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityCARIM-School of Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht UniversityNeuro-Immune Connections and Repair Lab, Department of Immunology and Infection, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt UniversityAbstract Obesity is a growing pandemic that increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and particularly in women also the risk of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and multiple sclerosis. Preclinical studies on obesity focus on male mice as they gain bodyweight faster and show a clear pro-inflammatory phenotype. Here, using male and female mice, we induced obesity by feeding a high fat diet (HFD), and compared adipose tissue (AT) inflammation at the same adiposity stage (% AT/bodyweight) between both sexes. Doing so, we identified that female mice show an increase in the number of pro-inflammatory immune cells in the visceral AT at a lower adiposity stage than male mice, but the effect of HFD is diminished with higher adiposity. Interestingly, only female mice showed an increase in immune cells in the subcutaneous AT after HFD feeding. Nonetheless, we found that pro-inflammatory cytokines in blood plasma mirror the inflammatory stage of the visceral AT in both male and female mice. Uniquely in male mice, myeloid cells in the visceral AT showed a higher inflammasome activation upon HFD. In summary, we showed that adiposity differentially affects immune cells in fat depots based on sex.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00677-1Diet-induced obesitySexInflammationAdipose tissueInflammasome
spellingShingle Lisa T. Schuetz
Gayel Duran
Paulien Baeten
Daphne Lintsen
Doryssa Hermans
Sarah Chenine
Janne Verreycken
Tim Vanmierlo
Kristiaan Wouters
Bieke Broux
Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
Biology of Sex Differences
Diet-induced obesity
Sex
Inflammation
Adipose tissue
Inflammasome
title Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
title_full Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
title_fullStr Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
title_full_unstemmed Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
title_short Sex differentially affects pro-inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
title_sort sex differentially affects pro inflammatory cell subsets in adipose tissue depots in a diet induced obesity model
topic Diet-induced obesity
Sex
Inflammation
Adipose tissue
Inflammasome
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00677-1
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