A Novel Approach to Combating Inflammation in Obesity

Overview

Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation of the adipose tissue. This inflammation aggravates the current state of obesity, making it harder to treat, and leads to life-threatening side effects. To combat obesity, it is crucial to combat its inflammation first. Unfortunately, inflammation of the adipose tissue is not well understood. This study aims to establish fat cells can present antigens to induce an inflammatory response and stimulate immune cells to secrete pathogenic IgG autoimmune antibodies as novel mechanisms behind obesity-induced inflammation, and to target these mechanisms with potential anti-inflammatories--anti-TNF, metformin, or Vitamin D--to ultimately combat obesity from an innovative immunological approach. To conduct this study, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence, and ELISAs were performed to quantify antigen presentation, visually display protein expression, and quantify autoimmune antibody secretion respectively. The results suggest that fat cells can present antigens, a process normally performed by immune cells, and induce the secretion of pathogenic antibodies that are directed to attack the fatty tissue. These results also established that anti-TNF, metformin, and Vitamin D are potential anti-inflammatory agents that can target the newfound immunological properties of fat cells to ultimately combat obesity. In conclusion, this study sheds light on mechanisms behind obesity-induced inflammation and therapeutic agents to combat it. All data was statistically significant when a t-test and an ANOVA was run (ɑ=0.05).

Competition history

• AJAS 2020 Category not listed

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