Cell-mediated immunity in visceral obesity

Abstract

Visceral obesity is associated with the development of several diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA), cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and breast cancer (BC). Recent years have discussed the value of the immune system in the pathogenesis of the disease, but its role remains unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate the cellular immune responses in diseases comorbid with visceral obesity (OA, CVD, type 2 DM, BC). The study included 36 patients with OA, 61 – CVD, 60 - type 2 DM, 98 - breast cancer in postmenopausal women, 30 patients with benign breast tumors. The control group involved 21 healthy people. Our study includes anthropometric, clinical, biochemical, immunological (the reaction of lymphocyte blast transformation to PHA, insulin, antigens cartilage, IGF-1) and morphological methods of investigation. Patients with obesity associated diseases have reduction of proliferative activity in response to PHA and increased frequency of autoimmune reactions to insulin suppressed by prostaglandin-synthesizing cells and/or cells with histamine receptors (144/239 vs. 2/21, p <0,001). This type of cell-mediated immunity is correlated with the anthropometric data (BMI, waist circumference, WC/height) and disorders of carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions. Despite the differences of diseases associated with visceral obesity, the fact united them is the presence of metabolic disorders, the development of an autoimmune response to insulin, suppressed by prostaglandin synthesizing cells and/or cells with receptors to histamine (more than 60%), which suggests the involvement of the immune system in the genesis of these disorders.