The impact of obesity on biodistribution of different types of therapeutics

A recent discovery from our lab showed that diet-induced obesity leads to highly branched and disorganized mesenteric lymphatic vessels that leak lymph to the surrounding mesenteric adipose tissue. Mesenteric lymphatic vessels are important for dietary lipids, lipophilic drugs and antigens transportation from the intestine to the mesenteric lymph nodes. This thesis demonstrates that in mice with diet-induced obesity there is an increased diversion of lipid, lipophilic drug and antigen from the intestine to mesenteric adipose tissue and less reaches the mesenteric lymph nodes, which is likely due to lymph leakage from the mesenteric lymphatic vessels to the mesenteric adipose tissue.