A role for sphingolipids in the pathophysiology of obesity-induced inflammation

Following the initial discovery that adipose tissue actively synthesizes and secretes cytokines, obesity-induced inflammation has been implicated in the etiology of a host of disease states related to obesity, including cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Interestingly, a growing body of evidence similarly implicates sphingolipids as prime instigators in these same diseases. From the recent discovery that obesity-related inflammatory pathways modulate sphingolipid metabolism comes a novel perspective—sphingolipids may act as the dominant mediators of deleterious events stemming from obesity-induced inflammation. This paradigm may identify sphingolipids as an effective target for future therapeutics aimed at ameliorating diseases associated with chronic inflammation.