Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
Gut. 2012 Jan;61(1):86-94. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300391. Epub 2011 Sep 19.
Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterised by a peculiar accumulation of mesenteric adipose tissue covering the inflamed intestinal wall.
The authors characterised different adipose tissue compartments of patients with CD using morphological and molecular techniques and compared them to those of subjects with obesity (OB) and healthy subjects with normal weight (N). Adipose tissue samples were taken from subcutaneous adipose tissue, omental visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and healthy mesenteric depot (hMES), as well as from fat wrapping the affected (unhealthy) intestinal tracts (uhMES). Microarray analyses, validated by real-time quantitative PCR technique, were performed in whole adipose tissue and in isolated adipocytes.
The morphology of subcutaneous adipose tissue was similar in subjects with CD and those with N. In patients with CD, VAT adipocytes were smaller than those derived from uhMES and hMES and were smaller than VAT adipocytes of subjects with N. The molecular profiles of CD, VAT and uhMES were characterised by upregulation of genes related to inflammation and downregulation of those involved in lipid metabolism. Adipocytes isolated from VAT of subjects with CD and those with OB exhibited similar upregulation of genes involved in inflammation and immunity. VAT adipocytes of patients with CD compared to those of patients with OB also showed a greater upregulation of several anti-inflammatory genes.
In patients with CD, VAT distant from uhMES is affected by inflammation and displays features similar to those of VAT of patients with severe OB. The small diameter of VAT adipocytes of CD, together with their high expression of anti-inflammatory genes, suggests a potentially protective role for this tissue. VAT adipocytes may play an important role in the pathophysiology and/or activity of CD.
克罗恩病（CD）是一种慢性炎症性肠病，其特征是在发炎的肠壁上有独特的肠系膜脂肪组织堆积。
作者使用形态学和分子技术对 CD 患者的不同脂肪组织隔室进行了特征描述，并将其与肥胖（OB）患者和体重正常（N）的健康受试者进行了比较。从皮下脂肪组织、大网膜内脏脂肪组织（VAT）和健康肠系膜储存库（hMES）以及包裹病变（不健康）肠道的脂肪（uhMES）中采集脂肪组织样本。在整个脂肪组织和分离的脂肪细胞中进行了微阵列分析，并通过实时定量 PCR 技术进行了验证。
CD 患者和 N 患者的皮下脂肪组织形态相似。在 CD 患者中，VAT 脂肪细胞比 uhMES 和 hMES 衍生的脂肪细胞小，比 N 患者的 VAT 脂肪细胞小。CD、VAT 和 uhMES 的分子谱特征为与炎症相关的基因上调和与脂质代谢相关的基因下调。来自 CD 和 OB 患者的 VAT 中的脂肪细胞表现出相似的炎症和免疫相关基因的上调。与 OB 患者相比，CD 患者的 VAT 脂肪细胞还表现出几个抗炎基因的更高上调。
在 CD 患者中，远离 uhMES 的 VAT 受到炎症的影响，并表现出与严重 OB 患者的 VAT 相似的特征。CD 的 VAT 脂肪细胞直径较小，同时表达高抗炎基因，提示该组织可能具有保护作用。VAT 脂肪细胞可能在 CD 的病理生理学和/或活性中发挥重要作用。
