Aims/hypothesis: The specific contributions made by the various cell types in adipose tissue to obesity, particularly obesity-related inflammation, need to be clarified. The aim of this study was to elucidate the potential role of adipocyte precursor cells (preadipocytes/stromal vascular cells [SVC]).
Methods: We performed Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray expression profiling of cultured abdominal subcutaneous preadipocytes/SVC isolated from the adipose tissue of 14 non-obese (BMI 25+/-4 kg/m2) and 14 obese (55+/-8 kg/m2) non-diabetic Pima Indian subjects. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to verify the differential expression of several genes in an independent group of subjects.
Results: We identified 218 differentially expressed genes with p values less than 0.01. Microarray expression profiling revealed that the expression of inflammation-related genes was significantly upregulated in preadipocytes/SVC of obese individuals. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the upregulation of IL8, CTSS, ITGB2, HLA-DRA, CD53, PLA2G7 and MMP9 in preadipocytes/SVC of obese subjects.
Conclusions/interpretation: The upregulation of inflammation-related genes in preadipocytes/SVC of obese subjects may increase the recruitment of immune cells into adipose tissue and may also result in changes in the extracellular matrix (tissue remodelling) to accommodate adipose tissue expansion in obesity.