The purpose of this study was to compare the inflammatory profile expressed by specific abdominal adipose tissue depots between subjects with and without type 2 diabetes. Results showed that subjects with type 2 diabetes were characterized by higher expression of inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, macrophage inflammatory protein and interleukin-8) in intra-abdominal (visceral) adipose tissue. Moreover, intra-abdominal adipose tissue expression of several adipokines involved in inflammation was related to fasting glucose and insulin action as well as to abdominal fat mass. An interesting finding of this study was the depot-specific differences in adipose tissue mRNA expression of circulating molecules that have been shown to predict development of type 2 diabetes such as higher expression of complement C3 in intra-abdominal adipose tissue and upregulation of adiponectin, retinol binding protein-4 as well as nuclear factor-kB in subcutaneous adipose tissue. This finding suggests a possible contribution of subcutaneous adipose tissue to the inflammatory profile associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Thus, this study supports the contribution of abdominal adipose tissue to the inflammatory component observed in type 2 diabetes.
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