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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Characterization of Immune Cells in Human Adipose Tissue by Using Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 6, 2018
Immune profile of adipose tissue from youth with obesity and asthma
Anna Reichenbach1, Wade O'Brien1, Sarai Duran1
1Children's National Research Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
Background:
Obesity is a risk factor for paediatric asthma. Obesity-mediated systemic inflammation correlates with metabolic dysregulation; both are associated with asthma burden. However, adipose tissue inflammation is not defined in obesity-related asthma.
Objective:
Define adipose tissue inflammation and its association with metabolic measures in paediatric obesity-related asthma.
Methods:
Cellular profile of stromal vascular fraction from visceral adipose tissue (VAT) from youth with obesity-related asthma (n = 14) and obesity without asthma (n = 23) was analyzed using flow cytometry and correlated with metabolic measures.
Results:
Compared to youth without asthma, VAT from youth with obesity-related asthma was enriched for leukocytes and macrophages, including M1 and dual M1M2 cells, but did not differ for CD4+ lymphocytes, and endothelial cells, their progenitors, and preadipocytes. M1 macrophage counts positively correlated with glucose, while M1M2 cells, CD4+ lymphocytes, and their subsets negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein, in youth with obesity without asthma, but not among those with obesity-related asthma.
Conclusions:
Enrichment of macrophage-mediated inflammation in VAT from youth with obesity-related asthma supports its role in systemic inflammation linked with asthma morbidity. Lack of correlation of VAT cells with metabolic dysregulation in youth with obesity-related asthma identifies a need to define distinguishing factors associated with VAT inflammation in obesity-related asthma.
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