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Metabolism

Inflammation keeps old mice healthy

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

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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.

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

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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
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  2. Alan R. Saltiel
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Correspondence to Ivan Maillard or Alan R. Saltiel.

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

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