title: Surgical injury induces local and distant adipose tissue browning.
abstract: The adipose organ, which comprises brown, white and beige adipocytes, possesses remarkable plasticity in response to feeding and cold exposure. The development of beige adipocytes in white adipose tissue (WAT), a process called browning, represents a promising route to treat metabolic disorders. While surgical procedures constantly traumatize adipose tissue, its impact on adipocyte phenotype remains to be established. Herein, we studied the effect of trauma on adipocyte phenotype one day after sham, incision control, or surgical injury to the left inguinal adipose compartment. Caloric restriction was used to control for surgery-associated body temperature changes and weight loss. We characterized the trauma-induced cellular and molecular changes in subcutaneous, visceral, interscapular, and perivascular adipose tissue using histology, immunohistochemistry, gene expression, and flow cytometry analysis. After one day, surgical trauma stimulated adipose tissue browning at the site of injury and, importantly, in the contralateral inguinal depot. Browning was not present after incision only, and was largely independent of surgery-associated body temperature and weight loss. Adipose trauma rapidly recruited monocytes to the injured site and promoted alternatively activated macrophages. Conversely, PDGF receptor-positive beige progenitors were reduced. In this study, we identify adipose trauma as an unexpected driver of selected local and remote adipose tissue browning, holding important implications for the biologic response to surgical injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longchamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bartelt
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hine
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois , Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Corpataux
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kristal
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: C Keith
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Ozaki
keywords: adipose; beige adipose; browning; dietary restriction; surgery; trauma