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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Characterization of Immune Cells in Human Adipose Tissue by Using Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 6, 2018
Age-associated increase in cytokine production during systemic inflammation: adipose tissue as a major source of IL-6
Marlene E Starr1, B Mark Evers, Hiroshi Saito
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 77555-0828, USA.
Abstract:
Increased mortality and overexpression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) during inflammatory stress are well-documented age-associated phenomena; however, the site of IL-6 overexpression is not entirely known. Here, we report that white adipose tissue is a major source of IL-6 in aged animals during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced systemic inflammation. Among the various tissues examined, white adipose tissue from the epididymal fat pad (located in the abdominal cavity) expressed the highest level of IL-6 messenger RNA in both young and aged mice with a 5.5-fold higher level in the aged. Immunohistochemistry revealed that, within the adipose tissue, LPS-induced IL-6 expression is localized to both the adipocytes and stromal cells. Compared with age-matched wild-type mice, aged IL-6((-/-)) mice exhibited reduced mortality to LPS suggesting a deleterious effect of IL-6 overexpression in the aged. These results demonstrate that increased vulnerability to systemic inflammation with age is due in part, to augmented IL-6 production by the adipose tissue.
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