The role of resistin in obesity and diabetes

Increased evidences indicate that resistin is a new hormone secreted from adipose tissue, it is reported to be an important signal molecule linking between obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Many factors can affect the gene expression of resistin. However, the detailed function of resistin still remains mysterious and much work needs to be undertaken.     

Physiological and pathological roles of mast cells in adipose tissue

Mast cells are important cells for the innate immunity that reside in tissues including adipose tissue and are involved in various physiological and pathological processes by producing a range of biological mediators. Adipose tissue not only acts as an energy depot and regulator of energy homeostasis that can deposit excess energy and dissipate energy through heat, but also is an active endocrine organ capable of producing hormones and adipokines. The dysfunction of adipose tissue is highly correlated with metabolic disorders, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and so on. This review focuses on the physiological and pathological roles of mast cells in adipose tissue.     

Advance in study of batokines

Brown adipose tissue is a type of adipose tissue and is present in all mammals. It is not only the main site for adaptive thermogenesis in vivo, but also secretes and releases many cytokines in the form of endocrine to regulate a variety of metabolic processes and prevent and treat obesity and metabolic diseases. Therefore, identification of the types and effects of brown adipocytokines (batokines) may be crucial for the treatment of a variety of obesity-related metabolic diseases. Based on the latest research progress, batokines and their functions are reviewed.     

The impact of weight loss on circulating cytokines in Beagle dogs

Chronic low-grade inflammation in obesity is characterized by an increased production of pro-inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines that are contributing to insulin resistance and related co-morbidities. Cytokines act in networks and exhibit pleiotropic effects so we investigated the circulating levels of a wide array of cytokines (pro and anti-inflammatory, chemotactic and growth factors) in a canine model of weight loss. The dogs served as their own control in order to study the impact of weight loss independent of potential confounding factors, such as history of excess weight or gender. While low-grade inflammation had been previously investigated in obese dogs by measuring changes in adipokines, acute phase proteins and key pro-inflammatory cytokines, to the best of our knowledge this is the first study to evaluate how weight loss impacts a wide array of circulating cytokines.Eighteen overweight Beagle dogs were recruited (six spayed females and 12 neutered males), and none of them were grossly obese according to the body condition score (BCS). All the dogs reached an ideal weight by the end of the program. Parameters were assessed before (baseline), at mid-point (month 3) and at end-point (month 6). Plasma GM-CSF, IL-2, Il-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, IL-18, IFNγ, IP-10, TNFα, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), keratinocyte chemokine (KC) were measured with canine multiplex immunoassays. Fat mass was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorption (DEXA).Several cytokines decreased throughout the weight loss program (p < 0.01) and were correlated with the percentage of fat measured by DEXA (p < 0.05): chemotactic (MCP-1), growth factors (GM-CSF, IL-7 and IL-2), and pro-inflammatory (KC and IL-18). We could not show trends for several cytokines, possibly because their level may be lower than the assay sensitivity: anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10), and pro-inflammatory (IL-6 and TNFα).In conclusion, while our findings for several pro-inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines are in accordance with human and rodent studies, we may have identified additional cytokines, such as growth factors, related to obesity-induced low-grade inflammation. Considering the weight loss was enabled by an adjusted diet, the role of this association of cytokines in insulin resistance and related co-morbidities needs to be clarified. Our results could help better understand the cytokine biology in dogs, and as such are relevant for further elucidating the relationship between immune function and metabolism/nutrition.