Adipose Tissue-Specialized Immunologic Features Might Be the Potential Therapeutic Target of Prospective Medicines for Obesity

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Excessive lipid accumulation in adipose tissue is either the source of obesity or the cause and result of chronic local inflammation, and recent studies indicate that the accumulation may induce many other specialized immunologic features with macrophages and epidemic diseases. We analyze the effective stages of immune cells in adipose tissue, including macrophage recruitment, macrophage polarization, and macrophage-like phenotype preadipocyte possession to find optimal sites as drug targets. Subsequently, some main signaling pathways are summarized in this review, including the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway, the JNK signaling pathway, and a novel one, the Notch signaling pathway. We illustrate all these points in order to determine the general pathogenesis of chronic low-grade local inflammation in adipose tissue and the related signaling pathways. In addition, signal-associated prospective compounds, such as berberine, are summarized and discussed with potential targets in pathogenesis. This might provide some possible thoughts and novel therapies for studying chronic inflammatory diseases, such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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