Inflamed fat: What starts the fire?

Abstract

Obesity is associated with increased macrophage infiltration of adipose tissue, and these macrophages may be an important component of the chronic inflammatory response playing a crucial role in the development of insulin resistance. This prompts the question as to how macrophages infiltrate obese adipose tissue. In this issue of the JCI, Weisberg et al. show the importance of C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) in macrophage recruitment to adipose tissue and the development of obesity and its complications (see the related article beginning on page 115).