Visceral fat accumulation is an indicator of adipose tissue macrophage infiltration in women.

We tested the hypothesis that visceral obesity is the best correlate of abdominal adipose tissue macrophage infiltration in women. Omental and subcutaneous fat samples were surgically obtained from 40 women (age, 47.0 ± 4.0 years; body mass index, 28.4 ± 5.8 kg/m(2)). CD68+ cells were identified using fluorescence immunohistochemistry. Expression of macrophage markers was measured by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Body composition and fat distribution were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography, respectively. Mean CD68+ cell percentage tended to be higher in subcutaneous (18.3%) compared with omental adipose tissue (15.5%, P = .07). Positive correlations were observed between CD68+ cell percentage as well as CD68 messenger RNA expression in a given depot vs the other (P ≤ .01). Visceral adipose tissue area and omental adipocyte diameter were positively related to CD68+ cell percentage in omental fat (r = 0.52 and r = 0.35, P ≤ .05). Total and visceral adipose tissue areas as well as subcutaneous adipocyte diameter were significantly correlated with CD68+ cell percentage in subcutaneous adipose tissue (0.32 ≤ r ≤ 0.40, P ≤ .05). Adipose tissue areas and subcutaneous adipocyte diameter were also significantly associated with expression of commonly used macrophage markers including CD68 in the subcutaneous fat compartment (0.32 ≤ r ≤ 0.57, P ≤ .05). Visceral adipose tissue area was the best correlate of CD68+ cell percentage in both omental and subcutaneous fat tissues, explaining, respectively, 20% and 12% of the variance in models also including subcutaneous adipose tissue area, adipocyte sizes, and total body fat mass. Visceral adipose tissue accumulation is the best correlate of macrophage infiltration in both the subcutaneous and omental fat compartments of lean to obese women.