Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Immune Response Aging
Summary
Adipose tissue performs far more than the passive storage of fat; it is a dynamic organ that orchestrates metabolic homeostasis and immune surveillance. With advancing age, fat depots undergo profound remodelling marked by shifts in cellular composition, lipid handling and secretory profiles. Critical among these changes is a low-grade, chronic inflammatory state—sometimes termed inflammaging—driven by accumulating senescent cells, altered adipokine release and dysregulated immune cell infiltration. This inflammatory milieu impairs adipogenesis, promotes fibrosis and fosters metabolic dysfunction, thereby linking age-related adipose organ decline to insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions. Recent work has begun to unravel the interplay between adipose stem and progenitor cell exhaustion, mitochondrial stress, activation of innate immune sensors such as the NLRP3 inflammasome, and shifts in T-cell and macrophage populations. Understanding these processes not only illuminates fundamental ageing biology but also opens avenues for targeted interventions to preserve healthy adipose function in later life.
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Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Immune Response Aging publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in adipose tissue inflammation and immune response aging across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Adipogenesis: The process by which stem and precursor cells differentiate into mature adipocytes capable of lipid storage.
ASPC (Adipose Stem and Precursor Cell): A progenitor cell population responsible for generating new adipocytes and maintaining tissue plasticity.
Inflammaging: Chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops during ageing and contributes to tissue dysfunction.
NLRP3 Inflammasome: A multiprotein complex in innate immune cells that senses cellular stress and triggers release of proinflammatory cytokines.
Adipocyte Hypertrophy: Enlargement of fat cells due to lipid overload, often associated with dysregulated adipose function and inflammation.
References
- Age-dependent genes in adipose stem and precursor cells affect regulation of fat cell differentiation and link aging to obesity via cellular and genetic interactions. Genome Medicine (2024).
- Adipose tissue aging is regulated by an altered immune system. Frontiers in Immunology (2023).
- Physiological Approaches Targeting Cellular and Mitochondrial Pathways Underlying Adipose Organ Senescence. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
- The Impact of Aging on Adipose Function and Adipokine Synthesis. Frontiers in Endocrinology (2019).
- White adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity and aging. Biochemical Pharmacology (2021).
- Divergent immunometabolic changes in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle with ageing in healthy humans. The Journal of Physiology (2021).
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