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.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Adipocyte and Cell Biology

Lymphatic drainage affects lipolytic activity of femoral adipose tissue in women

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 1974–1978 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

It has been shown that many molecules released by adipose tissue (AT) into interstitial fluid can reach the bloodstream preferentially via lymphatic system. Worsened lymphatic drainage may alter interstitial fluid (ISF) composition and thus affect microenvironment of adipocytes. Nevertheless, the effect of lymphatic drainage on AT functions remains unknown. Therefore, we analyzed the lipolytic activity of femoral AT in two groups of premenopausal women similar in adiposity but differing in the efficiency of lymphatic drainage of lower body as assessed by lymphoscintigraphy. Levels of lipolytic markers were assessed in plasma and ISF collected by skin blister technique in femoral area. In addition, microdialysis was used to monitor lipolysis of AT in vivo. Our results indicate that worsened lymphatic drainage is associated with lower in vivo lipolytic index and reduced lipolytic responsiveness of femoral AT to adrenergic stimuli. Thus, efficiency of lymphatic drainage appears to play a role in the regulation of AT metabolism. Accordingly, worsened lymphatic drainage could contribute to the resistance of lower body AT to intentional weigh loss.

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

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Lipolytic markers in two groups of women differing in the efficiency of lymphatic drainage.

References

  1. Palmer BF, Clegg DJ. The sexual dimorphism of obesity. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2015;402:113–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Manolopoulos KN, Karpe F, Frayn KN. Gluteofemoral body fat as a determinant of metabolic health. Int J Obes. 2010;34:949–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Marques MA, Combes M, Roussel B, Vidal-Dupont L, Thalamas C, Lafontan M, et al. Impact of a mechanical massage on gene expression profile and lipid mobilization in female gluteofemoral adipose tissue. Obesity Facts. 2011;4:121–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. L’Hermitte F, Behar A, Paries J, Cohen-Boulakia F, Attali JR, Valensi P. Impairment of lymphatic function in women with gynoid adiposity and swelling syndrome. Metabolism. 2003;52:805–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Herbst KL. Rare adipose disorders (RADs) masquerading as obesity. Acta Pharmacol Sinica. 2012;33:155–72.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Al-Ghadban S, Cromer W, Allen M, Ussery C, Badowski M, Harris D, et al. Dilated blood and lymphatic microvessels, angiogenesis, increased macrophages, and adipocyte hypertrophy in lipedema thigh skin and fat tissue. J Obes. 2019;2019:8747461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kubinyi J, Knotková V, Hrbáč J, Kratochvíl V, Lang O, Mrhač L, et al. Lymfoscintigrafie—provedení vyšetření a jeho interpretace. Nukleární Medicína. 2018;7:1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Arner P, Andersson DP, Backdahl J, Dahlman I, Ryden M. Weight gain and impaired glucose metabolism in women are predicted by inefficient subcutaneous fat cell lipolysis. Cell Metab. 2018;28:45–54 e3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Shippenberg TS, Thompson AC. Overview of microdialysis. Curr Protoc Neurosci. 2001. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471142301.ns0701s00.

  10. Davidsson L, Bjorkman L, Christenson K, Alsterholm M, Movitz C, Thoren FB, et al. A simple skin blister technique for the study of in vivo transmigration of human leukocytes. J Immunol Methods. 2013;393:8–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Miller NE, Michel CC, Nanjee MN, Olszewski WL, Miller IP, Hazell M, et al. Secretion of adipokines by human adipose tissue in vivo: partitioning between capillary and lymphatic transport. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2011;301:E659–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kool J, Reubsaet L, Wesseldijk F, Maravilha RT, Pinkse MW, D’Santos CS, et al. Suction blister fluid as potential body fluid for biomarker proteins. Proteomics. 2007;7:3638–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Karpe F, Pinnick KE. Biology of upper-body and lower-body adipose tissue-link to whole-body phenotypes. Nature Rev Endocrinol. 2015;11:90–100.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lafontan M, Langin D. Lipolysis and lipid mobilization in human adipose tissue. Prog Lipid Res. 2009;48:275–97.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fruhbeck G, Gomez-Ambrosi J. Modulation of the leptin-induced white adipose tissue lipolysis by nitric oxide. Cell Signal. 2001;13:827–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Brorson H. From lymph to fat: liposuction as a treatment for complete reduction of lymphedema. Int J Low Extrem Wounds. 2012;11:10–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ly CL, Nores GDG, Kataru RP, Mehrara BJ. T helper 2 differentiation is necessary for development of lymphedema. Transl Res. 2019;206:57–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Kendall AC, Pilkington SM, Massey KA, Sassano G, Rhodes LE, Nicolaou A. Distribution of bioactive lipid mediators in human skin. J Investig Dermatol. 2015;135:1510–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Stich V, Pelikanova T, Wohl P, Sengenes C, Zakaroff-Girard A, Lafontan M, et al. Activation of alpha2-adrenergic receptors blunts epinephrine-induced lipolysis in subcutaneous adipose tissue during a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp in men. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2003;285:E599–607.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Tobin L, Simonsen L, Galbo H, Bulow J. Vascular and metabolic effects of adrenaline in adipose tissue in type 2 diabetes. Nutr Diabetes. 2012;2:e46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Reynisdottir S, Ellerfeldt K, Wahrenberg H, Lithell H, Arner P. Multiple lipolysis defects in the insulin resistance (metabolic) syndrome. J Clin Investig. 1994;93:2590–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Basu A, Basu R, Shah P, Vella A, Rizza RA, Jensen MD. Systemic and regional free fatty acid metabolism in type 2 diabetes. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001;280:E1000–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Valensi P, Cohen-Boulakia F, Attali JR, Behar A. Changes in capillary permeability in diabetic patients. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc. 1997;17:389–94.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The study was supported by grant GAP16-00477S of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic and PROGRES Q36 of Charles University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathophysiology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Zuzana Varaliová, Terezie Čížková, Michaela Šiklová, Eva Krauzová, Marek Štěpán, Vladimír Štich & Lenka Rossmeislová

  2. Centre for Research on Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Zuzana Varaliová, Terezie Čížková, Jan Gojda, Jana Potočková, Michaela Šiklová, Eva Krauzová, Marek Štěpán, Vladimír Štich & Lenka Rossmeislová

  3. Center of Preventive Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

    René Vlasák

  4. Franco-Czech Laboratory for Clinical Research on Obesity, Third Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Gojda, Michaela Šiklová, Vladimír Štich & Lenka Rossmeislová

  5. Department of Medicine 2, Kralovske Vinohrady University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Gojda, Jana Potočková, Eva Krauzová & Marek Štěpán

  6. Institute of Sports Medicine and Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, NV, Denmark

    Jens Bülow

  7. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jens Bülow

Authors
  1. Zuzana Varaliová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. René Vlasák
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Terezie Čížková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jan Gojda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jana Potočková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Michaela Šiklová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Eva Krauzová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Marek Štěpán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jens Bülow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Vladimír Štich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Lenka Rossmeislová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design and read and approved the final manuscript. LR is a guarantor of this work and, as such, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lenka Rossmeislová.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest, except for RV, who is a surgeon, chief physician, and founder of the Center of Preventive Medicine.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Varaliová, Z., Vlasák, R., Čížková, T. et al. Lymphatic drainage affects lipolytic activity of femoral adipose tissue in women. Int J Obes 44, 1974–1978 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0559-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0559-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links