In this project I showed that there are unique features of T cells at the site of inflammation of human obesity (i.e. the visceral fat), both in the presence and absence of T2D. The established notion that the visceral fat in human obesity is enriched with proinflammatory T cells does not apply to T cells by default. This is shown by the evidence that: (i) a shortage of proinflammatory T cells is evident in obese visceral fat compared to the leanness condition; (ii) in the presence of T2D, T cells become hyper-activated and refractory to suppression; (iii) in the presence of T2D, a subset of CD4 T cells was found to be impaired in the visceral fat but endowed with a proinflammatory profile. These evidence will lay the ground for investigation of modulation of T cell responses for therapeutic intervention in the context of human obesity and T2D.
Results coming from this project were disseminated through outreaching activities, such as the European Researcher’s night (MeetMeTonight) and public events organized for patients at the San Raffaele Diabetes Research Institute. Furthermore, I was interviewed on the MSCA fellowship project and the articles were published on the official website of a patient organization and on the Gruppo San Donato (GSD) official journal. Data were also presented at the Ospedale San Raffaele Scientific Retreat, at the Department of Immunology of Ospedale San Raffaele and at the European Association for the Study of Obesity Congress. Moreover, an original article is now under revision in a scientific journal.
