Recent research from Norbert Leitinger’s explains why obesity causes harmful inflammation that can lead to diabetes, clogged arteries, and other health problems. The researchers, for the first time, were able to explain why resident immune cells in fat tissue (immune cells that are thought to be beneficial) turn harmful during obesity, causing unhealthy and unwanted inflammation. These findings were published in PNAS:
Vlad Serbulea, Clint M. Upchurch, Michael S. Schappe, Paxton Voigt, Dory E. DeWeese, Bimal N. Desai, Akshaya K. Meher, and Norbert Leitinger (2018). Macrophage phenotype and bioenergetics are controlled by oxidized phospholipids identified in lean and obese adipose tissue. PNAS 115: E6254-E6263.
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