Adipose-Lung Cell Crosstalk in the Obesity-ARDS Paradox

Abstract

Obesity is an increasingly frequent condition associated with increased adipose, systemic and pulmonary inflammation. There is an emerging and unexpected finding that obese individuals may not be at a greater risk for ARDS and, indeed, may even be partially protected against ARDS. This finding is known as the Obesity-ARDS Paradox. In this review we discuss the observations regarding this intriguing phenomenon and begin to elaborate on the theoretical rationale that obesity-triggered low-grade inflammatory processes may constitute pre-conditioning insults or trigger anti-inflammatory adaptive mechanisms that confer protection against ARDS.