| First Author | Arndt L | Year | 2023 |
| Journal | Int J Mol Sci | Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 6 | PubMed ID | 36982747 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:337855 | Mgi Id | MGI:7450248 |
| Doi | 10.3390/ijms24065672 | Citation | Arndt L, et al. (2023) The Role of IL-13 and IL-4 in Adipose Tissue Fibrosis. Int J Mol Sci 24(6) |
| abstractText | White adipose tissue (WAT) fibrosis, characterized by an excess of extracellular (ECM) matrix components, is strongly associated with WAT inflammation and dysfunction due to obesity. Interleukin (IL)-13 and IL-4 were recently identified as critical mediators in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases. However, their role in WAT fibrosis is still ill-defined. We therefore established an ex vivo WAT organotypic culture system and demonstrated an upregulation of fibrosis-related genes and an increase of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA) and fibronectin abundance upon dose-dependent stimulation with IL-13/IL-4. These fibrotic effects were lost in WAT lacking il4ra, which encodes for the underlying receptor controlling this process. Adipose tissue macrophages were found to play a key role in mediating IL-13/IL-4 effects in WAT fibrosis as their depletion through clodronate dramatically decreased the fibrotic phenotype. IL-4-induced WAT fibrosis was partly confirmed in mice injected intraperitoneally with IL-4. Furthermore, gene correlation analyses of human WAT samples revealed a strong positive correlation of fibrosis markers with IL-13/IL-4 receptors, whereas IL13 and IL4 correlations failed to confirm this association. In conclusion, IL-13 and IL-4 can induce WAT fibrosis ex vivo and partly in vivo, but their role in human WAT remains to be further elucidated. |
