Search

Toll like receptors (TLRs) are expressed in adipose tissue and promote adipose tissue inflammation during obesity. Recently, anti-inflammatory properties have been attributed to TLR10 in myeloid cells, the only member of the TLR family with inhibitory activity. In order to assess whether TLR10-induced inhibition of inflammation may be protective during the development of obesity and metabolic abnormalities we used transgenic human TLR10 mice (hTLR10tg) and wild type (WT) controls on a C57B6J background. HFD-feeding enhanced TLR10 expression in the adipose tissue, and HFD-fed hTLR10tg mice displayed reduced adipocyte size, adipose tissue weight, and a trend toward lower plasma insulin levels compared to WT mice. In humans, obese individuals with polymorphisms in the TLR10 gene displayed reduced macrophage infiltration in the adipose tissue accompanied by a trend to lower leptin levels and higher adiponectin levels in plasma. In healthy individuals with the same polymorphisms in the TLR10 gene we did not observe any difference in plasma concentrations of leptin and adiponectin. We conclude that TLR10 impacts adipose tissue morphology in obesity. Larger studies in humans are warranted to assess its potential value as therapeutic target in metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims/hypothesis: Recent studies have identified intracellular metabolism as a fundamental determinant of macrophage function. In obesity, proinflammatory macrophages accumulate in adipose tissue and trigger chronic low-grade inflammation, that promotes the development of systemic insulin resistance, yet changes in their intracellular energy metabolism are currently unknown. We therefore set out to study metabolic signatures of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) in lean and obese conditions., Methods: F4/80-positive ATMs were isolated from obese vs lean mice. High-fat feeding of wild-type mice and myeloid-specific Hif1α -/- mice was used to examine the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in ATMs part of obese adipose tissue. In vitro, bone marrow-derived macrophages were co-cultured with adipose tissue explants to examine adipose tissue-induced changes in macrophage phenotypes. Transcriptome analysis, real-time flux measurements, ELISA and several other approaches were used to determine the metabolic signatures and inflammatory status of macrophages. In addition, various metabolic routes were inhibited to determine their relevance for cytokine production., Results: Transcriptome analysis and extracellular flux measurements of mouse ATMs revealed unique metabolic rewiring in obesity characterised by both increased glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. Similar metabolic activation of CD14 + cells in obese individuals was associated with diabetes outcome. These changes were not observed in peritoneal macrophages from obese vs lean mice and did not resemble metabolic rewiring in M1-primed macrophages. Instead, metabolic activation of macrophages was dose-dependently induced by a set of adipose tissue-derived factors that could not be reduced to leptin or lactate. Using metabolic inhibitors, we identified various metabolic routes, including fatty acid oxidation, glycolysis and glutaminolysis, that contributed to cytokine release by ATMs in lean adipose tissue. Glycolysis appeared to be the main contributor to the proinflammatory trait of macrophages in obese adipose tissue. HIF-1α, a key regulator of glycolysis, nonetheless appeared to play no critical role in proinflammatory activation of ATMs during early stages of obesity., Conclusions/interpretation: Our results reveal unique metabolic activation of ATMs in obesity that promotes inflammatory cytokine release. Further understanding of metabolic programming in ATMs will most likely lead to novel therapeutic targets to curtail inflammatory responses in obesity., Data Availability: Microarray data of ATMs isolated from obese or lean mice have been submitted to the Gene Expression Omnibus (accession no. GSE84000).

Aims/hypothesis: Obesity induces macrophages to drive inflammation in adipose tissue, a crucial step towards the development of type 2 diabetes. The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate succinate is released from cells under metabolic stress and has recently emerged as a metabolic signal induced by proinflammatory stimuli. We therefore investigated whether succinate receptor 1 (SUCNR1) could play a role in the development of adipose tissue inflammation and type 2 diabetes., Methods: Succinate levels were determined in human plasma samples from individuals with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic participants. Succinate release from adipose tissue explants was studied. Sucnr1 -/- and wild-type (WT) littermate mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) or low-fat diet (LFD) for 16 weeks. Serum metabolic variables, adipose tissue inflammation, macrophage migration and glucose tolerance were determined., Results: We show that hypoxia and hyperglycaemia independently drive the release of succinate from mouse adipose tissue (17-fold and up to 18-fold, respectively) and that plasma levels of succinate were higher in participants with type 2 diabetes compared with non-diabetic individuals (+53%; p < 0.01). Sucnr1 -/- mice had significantly reduced numbers of macrophages (0.56 ± 0.07 vs 0.92 ± 0.15 F4/80 cells/adipocytes, p < 0.05) and crown-like structures (0.06 ± 0.02 vs 0.14 ± 0.02, CLS/adipocytes p < 0.01) in adipose tissue and significantly improved glucose tolerance (p < 0.001) compared with WT mice fed an HFD, despite similarly increased body weights. Consistently, macrophages from Sucnr1 -/- mice showed reduced chemotaxis towards medium collected from apoptotic and hypoxic adipocytes (-59%; p < 0.05)., Conclusions/interpretation: Our results reveal that activation of SUCNR1 in macrophages is important for both infiltration and inflammation of adipose tissue in obesity, and suggest that SUCNR1 is a promising therapeutic target in obesity-induced type 2 diabetes., Data Availability: The dataset generated and analysed during the current study is available in GEO with the accession number GSE64104, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE64104 .

Inflammation originating from the adipose tissue is considered to be one of the main driving forces for the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obese individuals. Although a plethora of different immune cells shapes adipose tissue inflammation, this review is specifically focused on the contribution of macrophages that reside in adipose tissue in lean and obese conditions. Both conventional and tissue-specific functions of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) in lean and obese adipose tissue are discussed and linked with metabolic and inflammatory changes that occur during the development of obesity. Furthermore, we will address various circulating and adipose tissue-derived triggers that may be involved in shaping the ATM phenotype and underlie ATM function in lean and obese conditions. Finally, we will highlight how these changes affect adipose tissue inflammation and may be targeted for therapeutic interventions to improve insulin sensitivity in obese individuals.