Culture and differentiation of human orbital preadipocytes in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy

To identify whether there are preadipocytes in the orbits of thyroid-associated (TAO) patients and whether they possess the capacity to undergo ophthalmopathy adipocytic differentiation.

Orbital fat tissue from TAO patients was placed in primary culture and proliferating cells were sub-passaged. The preadiocytes were identified with immunohistochemistry. Confluent preadipocytes were subjected to a differentiation protocol. And Peroxisome proliferators-associated receptory (PPARgamma) transcript levels were determined before and after differentiation.

In primary culture, cells were spindly and showed positive immunostaining for preadipocyte factor-1 (pref-1) protein. During the process of differentiation, orbital cells showed evidence of adipogenesis and relatively greater PPARy gene expression with differentiation.

There are active preadipocytes in the orbital tissue of TAO patients which might be able to undergo adipocyte differentiation. These observations suggest that the preadipocytes differentiation contributed to excess orbital adipose tissue volume in TAO.