Gene expression differences in omental mesothelial cells from lean and obese human donors

Visceral adipose tissue inflammation correlates with metabolic dysfunction in obesity. However, critical cell types that trigger and contribute to inflammation in this depot are not completely understood. Mesothelial cells line the omental fat depot and are thought to contribute to several intraperitoneal inflammatory conditions. Whether adipose-associated mesothelial cell inflammation is a feature of pathologic obesity is unclear. This study was performed to delineate a contribution of omental adipose mesothelial cells to visceral adipose tissue dysfunction in pathologic obesity. We performed a cross-sectional case-control study from two separate cohorts of patients undergoing abdominal surgery with varying degrees of obesity and metabolic disease. Whole-genome expression profiling was conducted on mesothelial cells isolated from lean and obese surgical patients to determine differences in relevant pathways related to obesity and metabolic disease. Total RNA was isolated from three replicate samples of pooled donor omental mesothelial cells from obese donors compared to lean donors.