Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Metabolism

Inflammation keeps old mice healthy

Nature volume 528, pages 44–46 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Immune cells called regulatory T cells accumulate in fat during ageing. The anti-inflammatory activity of these cells worsens age-associated defects in metabolism, in contrast to its effect in obesity. See Letter p.137

Body fat undergoes extensive and frequent remodelling, as changes in blood-vessel development, connective tissue, the number and size of fat cells, and other features allow fat to store or release the energy that the organism needs. But this adaptive process can become harmful in stressful conditions. Maladaptive remodelling in obese rodents and humans is associated with larger fat cells and chronic inflammation in fat, leading to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular complications1. Attempts to disentangle the various components that cause this dysregulation of metabolism have revealed a coordinated inflammatory circuit involving interactions between several cell types1. On page 137 of this issue, Bapat et al.2 add a new twist to the story, providing evidence that, contrary to what might be expected, age-associated metabolic changes may be regulated by a different mechanism from those associated with obesity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Regulatory T cells impair metabolic regulation in old fat.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Osborn, O. & Olefsky, J. M. Nature Med. 18, 363–374 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bapat, S. P. et al. Nature 528, 137–141 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Feuerer, M. et al. Nature Med. 15, 930–939 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Winer, S. et al. Nature Med. 15, 921–929 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kolodin, D. et al. Cell Metab. 21, 543–557 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cipolletta, D., Cohen, P., Spiegelman, B. M., Benoist, C. & Mathis, D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 482–487 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Cipolletta, D. et al. Nature 486, 549–553 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Vasanthakumar, A. et al. Nature Immunol. 16, 276–285 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lumeng, C. N. et al. J. Immunol. 187, 6208–6216 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Brestoff, J. R. et al. Nature 519, 242–246 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Lee, M.-W. et al. Cell 160, 74–87 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lumeng, C. N. & Saltiel, A. R. J. Clin. Invest. 121, 2111–2117 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Wernstedt Asterholm, I. et al. Cell Metab. 20, 103–118 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Department of Internal Medicine, and the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Ivan Maillard is at the Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.,

    Ivan Maillard

  2. Alan R. Saltiel is in the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.,

    Alan R. Saltiel

Authors
  1. Ivan Maillard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alan R. Saltiel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ivan Maillard or Alan R. Saltiel.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Physiology: Inflammation links ageing to the brain

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maillard, I., Saltiel, A. Inflammation keeps old mice healthy. Nature 528, 44–46 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15648

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15648

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing