Cited by 40Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsAdipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic DiseasesRegulation of Appetite and Obesity

Palmitate Induces an Anti-Inflammatory Response in Immortalized Microglial BV-2 and IMG Cell Lines that Decreases TNFα Levels in mHypoE-46 Hypothalamic Neurons in Co-Culture

Kim, Stephanie M., McIlwraith, Emma K., Chalmers, Jennifer A., Belsham, Denise D.·2018·Neuroendocrinology

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Elevated levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) induce a state of neuroinflammation in the hypothalamus. It has been suggested that microglia sense palmitate, a prevalent circulating SFA, and act as mediators of this inflammatory process by communicating with neurons, particularly those involved in appetite regulation. In this study, we examined the inflammatory response to palmitate in immortalized microglial cell lines, BV-2 and IMG, and the subsequent effects on inflammatory gene expression in a model of NPY/AgRP neurons, mHypoE-46. Methods: The BV-2 cells were treated with 50 µM palmitate for 4 and 24 h, and the transcriptional regulation of markers for inflammation and cellular stress was assessed using an RT 2 Profiler PCR Array. Select genes were verified with qRT-PCR. The BV-2 and IMG cells were then co-cultured using 1.0-µm cell culture inserts with an immortalized hypothalamic cell line, mHypoE-46, to investigate potential intercellular communication between microglia and neurons. Results: We found that palmitate increased the mRNA levels of specific inflammatory genes, and a general anti-inflammatory profile was revealed in the microglia cells. The mRNA changes in TNFα at 4 and 24 h in BV-2 cells were abrogated with the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) inhibitor, TAK-242, indicating the involvement of TLR4. Co-culture of mHypoE-46 neurons with microglia pre-treated with palmitate resulted in repression of TNFα expression in the hypothalamic neurons. As palmitate significantly increased IL-13 expression in microglia, the effect of this cytokine was tested in mHypoE-46 neurons. The addition of IL-13 to neuronal cultures normalized the palmitate-mediated increase in IL-6 and AgRP expression, suggesting that microglia may protect surrounding neurons, at least in part, through the release of IL-13. Conclusions: These results suggest a potential anti-inflammatory role of microglia towards the palmitate-induced neuroinflammation, and potentially energy homeostasis, in hypothalamic neurons.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1159/000494759

Cites

59 of 59 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

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?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kim, S. M., McIlwraith, E. K., Chalmers, J. A., & Belsham, D. D.
Affiliations
University of Toronto (CA)
Venue
Neuroendocrinology
Publisher
S. Karger AG
Published
2018
Volume
107
Issue
4
Pages
387-399
ISSN
  • 0028-3835 (ISSN-L)
  • 1423-0194
OpenAlex
W2895781428
Cited by
37
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1
FWCI
1.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
Keywords
palmitate, saturated fatty acids, neuroinflammation, microglia, hypothalamic neurons, NPY/AgRP neurons, TNF-α, IL-13, interleukin-6, agouti-related protein, TLR4, neuron-microglia communication, appetite regulation, energy homeostasis, anti-inflammatory response
MeSH terms
Animals, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Cell Line, Cells, Cultured, Hypothalamus, Inflammation, Lipopolysaccharides, Neurons, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Microglia, Coculture Techniques, Palmitic Acid, Mice

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