Diabetes and Obesity — Obese people are at increased risk for developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Chronic inflammation in abdominal fat (known as adipose tissue) can lead to insulin resistance. A study by Dr. Jeffrey Pessin in the November 2014 issue of Cell Reports offers insight into how inflammation caused by a high-fat diet is regulated within adipose tissue. The study involved adipose tissue in obese humans and rodents. Dr. Pessin and colleagues found that the pro-inflammatory proteins IL-1β and TNF-α promote production of pro-inflammatory cytokines while also triggering production of the anti-inflammatory protein IL-13. This regulatory process—not previously observed in adipose tissue—appears to provide a feedback pathway that may protect the body by limiting inflammation of abdominal fat and preventing insulin resistance. Dr. Pessin is director of the Einstein-Sinai Diabetes Research Center, and is professor of medicine and of molecular pharmacology. He also holds the Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg Professorial Chair in Diabetes Research. The study’s first author Dr. Hyok-Jook Kwon is an instructor in medicine.
Posted on: Thursday, April 16, 2015