The DOI matches its Crossref record; 63 of the 63 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Adipose tissue derived bacteria are associated with inflammation in obesity and type 2 diabetes
Open accessAbstract
Objective Bacterial translocation to various organs including human adipose tissue (AT) due to increased intestinal permeability remains poorly understood. We hypothesised that: (1) bacterial presence is highly tissue specific and (2) related in composition and quantity to immune inflammatory and metabolic burden. Design We quantified and sequenced the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in blood and AT samples (omental, mesenteric and subcutaneous) of 75 subjects with obesity with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D) and used catalysed reporter deposition (CARD) – fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) to detect bacteria in AT. Results Under stringent experimental and bioinformatic control for contaminants, bacterial DNA was detected in blood and omental, subcutaneous and mesenteric AT samples in the range of 0.1 to 5 pg/µg DNA isolate. Moreover, CARD-FISH allowed the detection of living, AT-borne bacteria. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the predominant phyla, and bacterial quantity was associated with immune cell infiltration, inflammatory and metabolic parameters in a tissue-specific manner. Bacterial composition differed between subjects with and without T2D and was associated with related clinical measures, including systemic and tissues-specific inflammatory markers. Finally, treatment of adipocytes with bacterial DNA in vitro stimulated the expression of TNFA and IL6 . Conclusions Our study provides contaminant aware evidence for the presence of bacteria and bacterial DNA in several ATs in obesity and T2D and suggests an important role of bacteria in initiating and sustaining local AT subclinical inflammation and therefore impacting metabolic sequelae of obesity.
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“Gut microbiota composition and functionality are altered in obesity, skewing towards increased abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes.100”
From Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [100]
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“Increased intestinal permeability to bacterial products such as lipopolysaccharide (a potent inflammatory stimulus) also occurs more frequently in people with obesity.100”
From Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [100]
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Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity
Rubino, F., Cummings, D. E., Eckel, R. H., Cohen, R. V., Wilding, J. P. H., Brown, W. A., Stanford, F. C., Batterham, R. L., Farooqi, I. S., Farpour-Lambert, N. J., et al. (2025) · The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00316-4 · Cited by 1,811
Self-citationIntestinal Barrier in Human Health and Disease
Tommaso, N. D., Gasbarrini, A., & Ponziani, F. R. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182312836 · Cited by 577
“In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hyperglycemia promotes a proinflammatory condition that is related to intestinal permeability, bacterial translocation, and metabolic endotoxemia [127,128].”
BackgroundNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease: the interplay between metabolism, microbes and immunity
Tilg, H., Adolph, T. E., Dudek, M., & Knolle, P. A. (2021) · Nature Metabolism · doi:10.1038/s42255-021-00501-9 · Cited by 539
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Metadata
- Authors
- Massier, L., Chakaroun, R., Tabei, S., Crane, A., Didt, K. D., Fallmann, J., von Bergen, M., Haange, S.-B., Heyne, H., Stumvoll, M., Gericke, M., Dietrich, A., Blüher, M., Musat, N., & Kovacs, P.
- Affiliations
- University Hospital Leipzig (DE)
- IFB Adiposity Diseases (DE)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Broad Institute (US)
- Medical Department III – Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany
- Corresponding author
- Kovacs, Peter
- ORCID
- Venue
- Gut
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2020-04-21
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1796-1806
- ISSN
- 0017-5749 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3288
- OpenAlex
- W3017206405
- Cited by
- 194
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 15
- FWCI
- 22.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gut (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- EFRE – Europe funds Saxony (ProVIS)
- Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany (FKZ: 01EO1501; AD2-060E, AD2-06E95, AD2-K7-117)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Projektnummer 209933838 – SFB 1052; B01, B03)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Disease and Adiposity
- Keywords
- bacterial translocation, obesity, type 2 diabetes, adipose tissue inflammation, intestinal permeability, bacterial DNA contamination, omental adipose tissue, mesenteric adipose tissue, subcutaneous adipose tissue, immune cell infiltration, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, TNF-α, interleukin-6, adipocyte inflammation
- MeSH terms
- Firmicutes, Bacillota, Adipose Tissue, Cells, Cultured, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, DNA, Bacterial, Female, Humans, Inflammation, Intestinal Mucosa, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Interleukin-6, Bacterial Translocation, Proteobacteria
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