Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is considered a proinflammatory condition. Adipose tissue involvement seems evident because adiponectin levels correlate with disease remission and administration of leptin suppresses the low-grade systemic inflammation in mice with T1D. Whether adipose tissue involvement in T1D already occurs at a young age is yet unknown.
The aim was to explore the extent of adipokine alterations in pediatric T1D and gain more insight into the mechanisms underlying the involvement of adipose tissue.
Adipose tissue (AT) plays a pivotal role in whole-body lipid and glucose homeostasis. AT exerts metabolic control through various immunological mechanisms that instigated a new research field termed immunometabolism. Here, we review AT-resident immune cells and their role as key players in immunometabolism. In lean subjects, AT-resident immune cells have housekeeping functions ranging from apoptotic cell clearance to extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenesis.
In adults, circulating inflammatory mediators and activated CD14(++) monocytes link obesity to its metabolic and cardiovascular complications. However, it is largely unknown whether these inflammatory changes already occur in childhood obesity. To survey inflammatory changes during the early stages of obesity, we performed a comprehensive analysis of circulating inflammatory mediators, monocyte populations and their function in childhood obesity.
The outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, offers a protective barrier. In atopic eczema (AE) this skin barrier is impaired. Although AE is associated with filaggrin mutations, the reason for the impaired skin barrier function is inconclusive. Lipids in the stratum corneum (ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol) are crucial for a proper skin barrier function, but their role in relation to atopic eczema is indistinct. In this study a comprehensive analysis of ceramide composition and lipid organisation in stratum corneum is performed.
Atopic eczema (AE) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease affecting currently over 15% of Caucasian children and 2–10% of adults. Patients suffer from an impaired skin barrier function, which is located primarily in the stratum corneum (SC). In particular lipids in the SC provide the barrier, and protect the body against environmental pathogens and regulate transepidermal water loss. The lipids are predominantly composed of cholesterol, free fatty acids and ceramides (CERs).
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by a proinflammatory pulmonary condition that may result from increased infections and altered intracellular metabolism in CFTR-deficient cells. The lipid-activated transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) has well-established roles in immune cell function and inflammatory modulation and has been demonstrated to play an important role in the heightened inflammatory response in CF cells.
Glucocorticoids, such as prednisolone, are widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, but therapy is hampered by a broad range of metabolic side effects including skeletal muscle wasting and insulin resistance. Therefore, development of improved synthetic glucocorticoids that display similar efficacy as prednisolone but reduced side effects is an active research area. For efficient development of such new drugs, in vivo biomarkers, which can predict glucocorticoid metabolic side effects in an early stage, are needed.
Lipid profiling of human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization coupled to mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS) is being used to identify biomarkers of health, disease, and treatment efficacy. However, there is no consensus on the choice of anticoagulant to perform and compare lipidomic measurements. This study assessed the effect of the anticoagulants citrate, EDTA, and heparin, on eight synthetic and 80 plasma lipids, and compared lipidomic data among anticoagulants.