Inflammasome-driven catecholamine catabolism in macrophages blunts lipolysis during ageing

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)

Catecholamine-induced lipolysis, the first step in the generation of energy substrates by the hydrolysis of triglycerides, declines with age. The defect in the mobilization of free fatty acids in the elderly is accompanied by increased visceral adiposity, lower exercise capacity, failure to maintain core body temperature during cold stress, and reduced ability to survive starvation. Although catecholamine signalling in adipocytes is normal in the elderly, how lipolysis is impaired in ageing remains unknown. Here we show that adipose tissue macrophages regulate the age-related reduction in adipocyte lipolysis in mice by lowering the bioavailability of noradrenaline. Unexpectedly, unbiased whole-transcriptome analyses of adipose macrophages revealed that ageing upregulates genes that control catecholamine degradation in an NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent manner. Deletion of NLRP3 in ageing restored catecholamine-induced lipolysis by downregulating growth differentiation factor-3 (GDF3) and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) that is known to degrade noradrenaline. Consistent with this, deletion of GDF3 in inflammasome-activated macrophages improved lipolysis by decreasing levels of MAOA and caspase-1. Furthermore, inhibition of MAOA reversed the age-related reduction in noradrenaline concentration in adipose tissue, and restored lipolysis with increased levels of the key lipolytic enzymes ad

Evidence level

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

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