The authors of a recent open access paper reveal a fascinating discovery about how visceral fat tissue triggers chronic inflammation. With age, dysfunctional B cells accumulate, particularly a specific subtype that gathers in aged visceral fat tissue. These dysfunctional B cells provoke other immune cells, like macrophages, to become more pro-inflammatory. Removing this B cell population has shown to reduce age-related inflammation by addressing the contribution to inflammatory macrophage behavior.
Interestingly, B cells regenerate rapidly after removal, suggesting that clearing out these cells in older individuals through pharmacological or gene therapies could offer numerous benefits. Targeted elimination of specific immune cells, such as microglia in the brain, or even the entire immune system, remains an unexplored area of medical research with the potential to reverse various aspects of immune aging.
The article delves into the impact of aging on visceral adipose tissue and immune cell activation, particularly during sepsis. It explores the link between chronic inflammatory activation of macrophages and B cells in older organisms and their effects on lipolysis, which is essential for generating free fatty acids. The study also sheds light on how age-related accumulation of dysfunctional B cells hinders non-canonical lipolysis and promotes a pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype, ultimately contributing to inflammation.
