Role of iNKT cells and the lymphoid structures within visceral adipose tissue in the control of inflammation and obesity

肥胖已成为大多数工业化国家的主要健康问题。它易患心血管疾病，并与过早死亡有关。脂肪组织中的慢性炎症在肥胖症中是重要的，但是使用抗炎疗法在恢复代谢健康方面具有非常有限的功效或没有功效。最近的研究表明，刺激脂肪组织中的某些免疫细胞群体可以改善炎症，诱导体重减轻并改善2型糖尿病。但涉及的确切机制仍不清楚。一种脂肪储存库，网膜，特别富含免疫簇，其中炎性细胞在感染和腹膜炎（腹膜腔的炎症）期间集中。在这个项目中，我们想了解网膜在炎症调节和肥胖发展中的作用。特别是，我们希望阐明该器官是否负责免疫干预对肥胖的有益作用。我们将使用腹膜炎的小鼠模型来研究网膜在炎症中的作用。这项工作将提高我们对炎症机制和腹膜腔防御感染的认识，并为肥胖炎症治疗工具的开发开辟新建道路。使用肥胖小鼠模型，我们将研究网膜在肥胖发展中的作用及其免疫干预治疗。这项工作将为未来的转化研究铺平道路，这些研究着眼于人类网膜及其在炎症环境（如阑尾炎和胰腺炎）和肥胖症中的治疗益处。

Obesity has become a major health issue in most industrialised countries. It predisposes to cardiovascular disease and is associated with premature mortality. Chronic inflammation in adipose tissue is important in obesity, but use of anti-inflammatory therapies has had very modest or no efficacy in restoring metabolic health. Recent studies showed that stimulations of certain populations of immune cells in adipose tissue could improve inflammation, induce weight loss and ameliorate type 2 diabetes. But the precise mechanisms involved remain unknown. One fat depot, the omentum, is particularly rich in immune clusters where inflammatory cells are concentrating during infection and peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneal cavity). In this project, we want to understand the role of the omentum in the regulation of inflammation and the development of obesity. In particular we wish to elucidate whether this organ is responsible for the beneficial effect of immune-intervention in obesity. We will use a mouse model of peritonitis to study the role of the omentum in inflammation. This work will enhance our knowledge concerning the mechanisms underlying inflammation and the defense of the peritoneal cavity against infections and open new roads for the development of therapeutics tools in the treatment of inflammation in obesity. Using a mouse model of obesity we will examine the role of the omentum in the development of obesity and its treatment by immune-intervention. This work will pave the way to future translational studies looking at the omentum in humans and the therapeutic benefit of their targeting in inflammatory settings (such as appendicitis and pancreatitis) and in obesity.