Obesity-induced immunological effects on the skin.

Abstract

There is an increasing prevalence of obesity globally. Equally, the significance of maintaining a healthy body weight for maintaining a healthy skin homoeostasis is gaining greater attention. On this background, there is growing evidence of an adverse influence of excess body weight on the immune system, which has a resultant detrimental effect on the functioning of the skin. The presence of obesity appears to intensify various inflammatory skin disorders. These immune-dermatological consequences in the obese occur because of multiple adverse changes in the skin physiology, endocrine imbalance, metabolic deviations, alterations in circulation, skin microbiome and immunological disruptions. The purpose of this article is to highlight the profound impact of increased fat deposition on cutaneous immunology and its role in the pathophysiology of various chronic inflammatory dermatological conditions. Understanding these immunological modulations will aid in developing therapies targeting the specific inflammatory mediators in the management of obesity-associated chronic immunological skin disease.