examined the innate immune pathway in AbdSc AT from lean, obese, and T2DM subjects, and 4) examined the association of circulating LPS in T2DM subjects. The findings showed that LPS increased TLR-2 protein expression twofold (P Ͻ 0.05). Treatment of AbdSc adipocytes with LPS caused a significant increase in TNF-␣ and IL-6 secretion (IL-6, Control: 2.7 Ϯ 0.5 vs. LPS: 4.8 Ϯ 0.3 ng/ml; P Ͻ 0.001; TNF-␣, Control: 1.0 Ϯ 0.83 vs. LPS: 32.8 Ϯ 6.23 pg/ml; P Ͻ 0.001). NF-B inhibitor reduced IL-6 in AbdSc adipocytes (Control: 2.7 Ϯ 0.5 vs. NF-B inhibitor: 2.1 Ϯ 0.4 ng/ml; P Ͻ 0.001). AbdSc AT protein expression for TLR-2, MyD88, TRAF6, and NF-B was increased in T2DM patients (P Ͻ 0.05), and TLR-2, TRAF-6, and NF-B were increased in LPStreated adipocytes (P Ͻ 0.05). Circulating LPS was 76% higher in T2DM subjects compared with matched controls. LPS correlated with insulin in controls (r ϭ 0.678, P Ͻ 0.0001). Rosiglitazone (RSG) significantly reduced both fasting serum insulin levels (reduced by 51%, P ϭ 0.0395) and serum LPS (reduced by 35%, P ϭ 0.0139) in a subgroup of previously untreated T2DM patients. In summary, our results suggest that T2DM is associated with increased endotoxemia, with AT able to initiate an innate immune response. Thus, increased adiposity may increase proinflammatory cytokines and therefore contribute to the pathogenic risk of T2DM.toll-like receptors; adipocytes; nuclear factor-B; inflammation; insulin OBESITY IS KNOWN TO REPRESENT one of the single most important risk factors for the increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. In addition, an increase in central (visceral) adiposity confers higher metabolic risk. This increased metabolic risk is associated with subclinical inflammation, with several studies demonstrating increased levels of proinflammatory adipocytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-␣ (32, 33), in patients with obesity and T2DM. Activation of proinflammatory adipocytokines in adipose tissue (AT) is coordinated through NF-B, a key transcription factor in the inflammatory cascade (2,10, 11,18,21,22,33,35,37,38). Adipocytes also secrete adiponectin (29,30,36,41,42), which has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties through its action on NF-B and is inversely correlated with obesity and diabetes (29,30,36,41,42). Evidence for the role of NF-B in AT has been shown in studies overexpressing the NF-B activator IKK␤ in mice, which resulted in increased inflammatory cytokine production and the onset of diabetes (7). In contrast, hepatocyte IKK␤ knockout (KO) mice demonstrated a decrease in circulating proinflammatory cytokines (3). This indicates that IKK␤ KO mice do not develop hepatic insulin resistance and glucose intolerance compared with their high-fat diet-fed counterparts. Further studies also illustrate that an inflammatory reaction, induced by the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS), is markedly attenuated in the IKK␤ KO mice (3

BackgroundEmerging data indicate that gut-derived endotoxin may contribute to low-grade systemic inflammation in insulin resistant states. This study aimed to examine the importance of serum endotoxin and inflammatory markers in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients, with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to explore the effect of treatment with a lipase inhibitor, Orlistat, on their inflammatory status.MethodsFasted serum from 155 patients with biopsy proven NAFLD and 23 control subjects were analysed for endotoxin, soluble CD14 (sCD14), soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor II (sTNFRII) and various metabolic parameters. A subgroup of NAFLD patients were re-assessed 6 and 12 months after treatment with diet alone (n = 6) or diet plus Orlistat (n = 8).ResultsEndotoxin levels were significantly higher in patients with NAFLD compared with controls (NAFLD: 10.6(7.8, 14.8) EU/mL; controls: 3.9(3.2, 5.2) EU/mL, p < 0.001); NAFLD alone produced comparable endotoxin levels to T2DM (NAFLD: T2DM: 10.6(5.6, 14.2) EU/mL; non-diabetic: 10.6(8.5, 15.2) EU/mL), whilst a significant correlation between insulin resistance and serum endotoxin was observed (r = 0.27, p = 0.008). Both sCD14 (p < 0.01) and sTNFRII (p < 0.001) increased with severity of fibrosis. A positive correlation was also noted between sTNFRII and sCD14 in the NAFLD subjects (r = 0.29, p = 0.004).Sub-cohort treatment with Orlistat in patients with NAFLD showed significant decreases in ALT (p = 0.006), weight (p = 0.005) and endotoxin (p = 0.004) compared with the NAFLD, non-Orlistat treated control cohort at 6 and 12 months post therapy, respectively.ConclusionsEndotoxin levels were considerably increased in NAFLD patients, with marked increases noted in early stage fibrosis compared with controls. These results suggest elevated endotoxin may serve as an early indicator of potential liver damage, perhaps negating the need for invasive liver biopsy. As endotoxin may promote insulin resistance and inflammation, interventions aimed at reducing endotoxin levels in NAFLD patients may prove beneficial in reducing inflammatory burden.

Resistin may participate in more than one mechanism to influence proinflammatory cytokine release from human adipocytes, potentially via the integration of nuclear factor-kappaB and JNK signaling pathways.

Visfatin has been proposed as an insulin-mimicking adipocytokine, predominantly secreted from adipose tissue and correlated with obesity. However, recent studies suggest visfatin may act as a proinflammatory cytokine. Our studies sought to determine the significance of this adipocytokine and its potential role in the pathogenesis of T2DM. Firstly, we examined the effects of diabetic status on circulating visfatin levels, and several other adipocytokines, demonstrating that diabetic status increased visfatin*, TNF-α*** and IL-6*** compared with non-diabetic subjects (*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, respectively). We then assessed the effects of an insulin sensitizer, rosiglitazone (RSG), in treatment naïve T2DM subjects, on circulating visfatin levels. Our findings showed that visfatin was reduced post-RSG treatment [vs. pre-treatment (*p<0.05)] accompanied by a reduction in HOMA-IR**, thus implicating a role for insulin in visfatin regulation. Further studies addressed the intracellular mechanisms by which visfatin may be regulated, and may exert pro-inflammatory effects, in human abdominal subcutaneous (Abd Sc) adipocytes. Following insulin (Ins) and RSG treatment, our in vitro findings highlighted that insulin (100 nM), alone, upregulated visfatin protein expression whereas, in combination with RSG (10 nM), it reduced visfatin*, IKKβ** and p-JNK1/2*. Furthermore, inhibition of JNK protein exacted a significant reduction in visfatin expression (**p<0.01), whilst NF-κB blockade increased visfatin (*p<0.05), thus identifying JNK as the more influential factor in visfatin regulation. Additional in vitro analysis on adipokines regulating visfatin showed that only Abd Sc adipocytes treated with recombinant human (rh)IL-6 increased visfatin protein (*p<0.05), whilst rh visfatin treatment, itself, had no influence on TNF-α, IL-6 or resistin secretion from Sc adipocytes. These data highlight visfatin's regulation by insulin and RSG, potentially acting through NF-κB and JNK mechanisms, with only rh IL-6 modestly affecting visfatin regulation. Taken together, these findings suggest that visfatin may represent a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is influenced by insulin/insulin sensitivity via the NF-κB and JNK pathways.

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