Scientists from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney Australia have shown for the first time that even modest weight loss reverses many of the damaging changes often seen in the immune cells of obese people, particularly in those with Type 2 diabetes.It has been known for some time that excess body fat, particularly abdominal fat, triggers the production of ‘pro-inflammatory’ immune cells, which circulate in the blood and can damage our bodies. In addition, other inflammatory immune cells, known as macrophages, are also activated within fat tissue.
The recent study looked at obese people with Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes who were limited to a diet of between 1000 and 1600 calories a day for 24 weeks. Gastric banding was performed at 12 weeks to help restrict food intake further.
The results showed an 80% reduction of pro-inflammatory T-helper cells, as well as reduced activation of other circulating immune cells (T cells, monocytes and neutrophils) and decreased activation of macrophages in fat. They are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism, now online.
