FEBS Lett. 2021 Nov 30.
Obesity is associated with changes in immune cell sub-populations. However, tissue and blood obesity-responsive immune phenotypic pathways have not been contrasted. Here, the local niche immune cell population and gene expression in fatty liver is compared to peripheral blood of obese individuals. The Cibersort algorithm enumerated increased fractions of memory CD4+ T lymphocytes and reductions in natural killer and memory B cells in obese liver tissue and obese blood, with similar reductions found in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease tissue. Gene expression analysis identified inflammatory immune signatures of regulatory CD4+ T cells with inferred Th1, Th17, Th2 or Treg phenotypes that differed between liver and blood. Our study suggests that the local tissue-specific immune phenotype in the liver differs from the obese peripheral circulation, with the latter reflective of multi-systemic persistent inflammation that is characteristic of obesity.
Keywords: Obesity; cibersort; differential gene expression; immune cell population; liver; peripheral blood