Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Obesity

A complex role for adipose tissue macrophages

Increased infiltration of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) and their subsequent inflammatory effects are implicated in the development of insulin resistance among individuals with obesity. Interestingly, new data published in Cell Metabolism suggest that ATMs might also have important noninflammatory roles in lipid trafficking and its metabolic consequences.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Recycling of lipids by ATMs.

References

  1. Gregor, M. F. & Hotamisligil, G. S. Inflammatory mechanisms in obesity. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 29, 415–445 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lumeng, C. N. & Saltiel, A. R. Inflammatory links between obesity and metabolic disease. J. Clin. Invest. 121, 2111–2117 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Xu, X. et al. Obesity activates a program of lysosomal-dependent lipid metabolism in adipose tissue macrophages independently of classic activation. Cell Metab. 18, 816–830 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lumeng, C. N., Deyoung, S. M. & Saltiel, A. R. Macrophages block insulin action in adipocytes by altering expression of signaling and glucose transport proteins. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 292, E166–E174 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Goldfine, A. B. et al. Salicylate (salsalate) in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized trial. Ann. Intern. Med. 159, 1–12 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Shapiro, H. et al. Adipose tissue foam cells are present in human obesity. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 98, 1173–1181 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lumeng, C. N., Deyoung, S. M., Bodzin, J. L. & Saltiel, A. R. Increased inflammatory properties of adipose tissue macrophages recruited during diet-induced obesity. Diabetes 56, 16–23 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sagne, C. & Gasnier, B. Molecular physiology and pathophysiology of lysosomal membrane transporters. J. Inherit. Metab. Dis. 31, 258–266 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Woloszynek, J. C., Coleman, T., Semenkovich, C. F. & Sands, M. S. Lysosomal dysfunction results in altered energy balance. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 35765–35771 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Saltiel, A. R. Insulin resistance in the defense against obesity. Cell Metab. 15, 798–804 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan R. Saltiel.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reilly, S., Saltiel, A. A complex role for adipose tissue macrophages. Nat Rev Endocrinol 10, 193–194 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2014.12

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2014.12

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing