Review article: Is obesity an inflammatory illness? Role of low‐grade inflammation and macrophage infiltration in human white adipose tissue
Abstract
There are at least two scientific evidences of human obesity as a chronic inflammatory illness: first, the well‐described moderate increase of inflammatory factors in the circulation in obese subjects, and second, the recent identification of macrophage cells infiltrating the white adipose tissue (WAT). These observations led to a revision of the physiopathology of obesity and its co‐morbidities. It has been suggested that the ‘low‐grade’ inflammatory state associates with metabolic and cardiovascular complications of obesity. Weight loss is able to improve this inflammatory state by both significantly decreasing circulating inflammatory molecules and macrophage cell infiltration in WAT depots. However, the mechanisms of WAT macrophage recruitment into the adipose tissue and their role in obesity complications have not been defined. This review aims to point out the knowledge on inflammatory cytokines associated with obesity and focuses on macrophage infiltration in human WAT, discussing their recruitment and role. The interactions of macrophages with adipocytes will certainly be the subject of intense investigations in the future.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
One mechanism of microglia activation is the increase in LPS levels in peripheral blood, due to poor diet.
“One mechanism of microglia activation is the increase in LPS levels in peripheral blood, due to poor diet [50,51].”
From Polyphenol Microbial Metabolites Exhibit Gut and Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability and Protect Murine Microglia against LPS-Induced Inflammation (2019) · cites this paper as [51]
Cites
Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue
Zhang, Y., Proenca, R., Maffei, M., Barone, M., Leopold, L., & Friedman, J. M. (1994) · Nature · doi:10.1038/372425a0 · Cited by 13,419 · see citing works
Obesity is associated with macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue
Weisberg, S. P., McCann, D., Desai, M., Rosenbaum, M., Leibel, R. L., & Ferrante, A. W. (2003) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci200319246 · Cited by 10,041 · see citing works
Adipokines: inflammation and the pleiotropic role of white adipose tissue
Trayhurn, P., & Wood, I. S. (2004) · British Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1079/bjn20041213 · Cited by 2,210 · see citing works
Human epicardial adipose tissue is a source of inflammatory mediators
Mazurek, T., Zhang, L., Zalewski, A., Mannion, J. D., Diehl, J. T., Arafat, H., Sarov-Blat, L., O’Brien, S., Keiper, E. A., Johnson, A. G., et al. (2003) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000099542.57313.c5 · Cited by 1,966 · see citing works
Suganami, T., Nishida, J., & Ogawa, Y. (2005) · Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology · doi:10.1161/01.atv.0000183883.72263.13 · Cited by 1,056 · see citing works
Ziccardi, P., Nappo, F., Giugliano, G., Esposito, K., Marfella, R., Cioffi, M., D’Andrea, F., Molinari, A. M., & Giugliano, D. (2002) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/hc0702.104279 · Cited by 994 · see citing works
Brunk, U. T., & Terman, A. (2002) · Free Radical Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0891-5849(02)00959-0 · Cited by 919 · see citing works
Carey, V. J., Walters, E. E., Colditz, G. A., Solomon, C. G., Willet, W. C., Rosner, B. A., Speizer, F. E., & Manson, J. E. (1997) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009158 · Cited by 827 · see citing works
Weight loss regulates inflammation‐related genes in white adipose tissue of obese subjects
ClÉment, K., Viguerie, N., Poitou, C., Carette, C., Pelloux, V., Curat, C. A., Sicard, A., Rome, S., Benis, A., Zucker, J., et al. (2004) · The FASEB Journal · doi:10.1096/fj.04-2204com · Cited by 640 · see citing works
Self-citationWeight Loss Reduces C-Reactive Protein Levels in Obese Postmenopausal Women
Tchernof, A., Nolan, A., Sites, C. K., Ades, P. A., & Poehlman, E. T. (2002) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/hc0502.103331 · Cited by 541 · see citing works
Heilbronn, L. K., Noakes, M., & Clifton, P. M. (2001) · Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology · doi:10.1161/01.atv.21.6.968 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Bruun, J. M., Lihn, A. S., Madan, A. K., Pedersen, S. B., Schiøtt, K. M., Fain, J. N., & Richelsen, B. (2004) · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00269.2003 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mechanisms linking obesity with cardiovascular disease
Van Gaal, L. F., Mertens, I. L., & De Block, C. E. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05487 · Cited by 2,814 · see citing works
Adipocyte Death, Adipose Tissue Remodeling, and Obesity Complications
Strissel, K. J., Stancheva, Z., Miyoshi, H., Perfield, J. W., DeFuria, J., Jick, Z., Greenberg, A. S., & Obin, M. S. (2007) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db07-0767 · Cited by 1,007 · see citing works
The inflammation highway: metabolism accelerates inflammatory traffic in obesity
Johnson, A. R., Justin Milner, J., & Makowski, L. (2012) · Immunological Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1600-065x.2012.01151.x · Cited by 603 · see citing works
In vivo imaging in mice reveals local cell dynamics and inflammation in obese adipose tissue
Nishimura, S., Manabe, I., Nagasaki, M., Seo, K., Yamashita, H., Hosoya, Y., Ohsugi, M., Tobe, K., Kadowaki, T., Nagai, R., et al. (2008) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci33328 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
André, C., Dinel, A.-L., Ferreira, G., Layé, S., & Castanon, N. (2014) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2014.03.012 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Varma, V., Yao-Borengasser, A., Bodles, A. M., Rasouli, N., Phanavanh, B., Nolen, G. T., Kern, E. M., Nagarajan, R., Spencer, H. J., Lee, M.-J., et al. (2008) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db07-0840 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Han, C. Y., Umemoto, T., Omer, M., Den Hartigh, L. J., Chiba, T., LeBoeuf, R., Buller, C. L., Sweet, I. R., Pennathur, S., Abel, E. D., et al. (2012) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1074/jbc.m111.304998 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Role of Adiposity-Driven Inflammation in Depressive Morbidity
Capuron, L., Lasselin, J., & Castanon, N. (2017) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2016.123 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Clinical implications of sarcopenic obesity in cancer
Carneiro, I. P., Mazurak, V. C., & Prado, C. M. (2016) · Current Oncology Reports · doi:10.1007/s11912-016-0546-5 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Roles of Reactive Oxygen Species on Insulin Resistance in Adipose Tissue
Han, C. Y. (2016) · Diabetes & Metabolism Journal · doi:10.4093/dmj.2016.40.4.272 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Connolly, N., Anixt, J., Manning, P., Ping‐I Lin, D., Marsolo, K. A., & Bowers, K. (2016) · Autism Research · doi:10.1002/aur.1586 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Askarpour, M., Khani, D., Sheikhi, A., Ghaedi, E., & Alizadeh, S. (2019) · Obesity Surgery · doi:10.1007/s11695-019-03926-0 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Johnson, S. L., Kirk, R. D., DaSilva, N. A., Ma, H., Seeram, N. P., & Bertin, M. J. (2019) · Metabolites · doi:10.3390/metabo9040078 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Role of the gut in visceral fat inflammation and metabolic disorders
Lam, Y. Y., Mitchell, A. J., Holmes, A. J., Denyer, G. S., Gummesson, A., Caterson, I. D., Hunt, N. H., & Storlien, L. H. (2011) · Obesity · doi:10.1038/oby.2011.68 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Daly, C. M., Saxena, J., Singh, J., Bullard, M. R., Bondy, E. O., Saxena, A., Buffalino, R. E., Melville, M. F., & Freeman, L. R. (2022) · Nutritional Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/1028415x.2020.1752996 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Caroleo, M., Carbone, E. A., Greco, M., Corigliano, D. M., Arcidiacono, B., Fazia, G., Rania, M., Aloi, M., Gallelli, L., Segura-Garcia, C., et al. (2019) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu11091995 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Dietary fibre linked to decreased inflammation in overweight minority youth
Miller, S. J., Batra, A. K., Shearrer, G. E., House, B. T., Cook, L. T., Pont, S. J., Goran, M. I., & Davis, J. N. (2016) · Pediatric Obesity · doi:10.1111/ijpo.12017 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
- Authors
- Cancello, R., & Clément, K.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Cancello, R
- Venue
- BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-08-10
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1141-1147
- ISSN
- 0306-5456 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-0328
- 1471-0528
- OpenAlex
- W2002201827
- Cited by
- 418
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 38
- FWCI
- 2.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Disease and Adiposity
- Keywords
- obesity, low-grade inflammation, macrophage infiltration, white adipose tissue, adipose tissue macrophages, inflammatory cytokines, macrophage recruitment, obesity-related comorbidities, weight loss, metabolic complications, cardiovascular complications
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Chronic Disease, Humans, Inflammation, Macrophages, Obesity, Weight Loss, Adipocytes
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
