When diet and exercise are not enough, think immunomodulation

The incidences of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) are rapidly on the rise and now considered global health epidemics. Clinical data indicate a physiologically critical connection between the metabolic and immune systems, as obese individuals are uniquely susceptible to infectious and autoimmune diseases. We discuss the relevance of mouse models of obesity and the potential development of a 'biomarker toolkit' from human blood, along with the current knowledge regarding immune cell profiles in blood and adipose tissue of obese individuals with or without concomitant diseases such as T2D and Metabolic Syndrome. Understanding how the immune system initiates, perpetuates, and/or exacerbates obesity-associated diseases could lead to novel immune-based therapies for the abrogation of disease progression especially in pre-diabetic patients. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.