Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jan 10:12:812166.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.812166. eCollection 2021.

Obesity and the Development of Lung Fibrosis

Xia Guo  1 , Christudas Sunil  1 , Guoqing Qian  1
Affiliations
Review

Obesity and the Development of Lung Fibrosis

Xia Guo et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Obesity is an epidemic worldwide and the obese people suffer from a range of respiratory complications including fibrotic changes in the lung. The influence of obesity on the lung is multi-factorial, which is related to both mechanical injury and various inflammatory mediators produced by excessive adipose tissues, and infiltrated immune cells. Adiposity causes increased production of inflammatory mediators, for example, cytokines, chemokines, and adipokines, both locally and in the systemic circulation, thereby rendering susceptibility to respiratory diseases, and altered responses. Lung fibrosis is closely related to chronic inflammation in the lung. Current data suggest a link between lung fibrosis and diet-induced obesity, although the mechanism remains incomplete understood. This review summarizes findings on the association of lung fibrosis with obesity, highlights the role of several critical inflammatory mediators (e.g., TNF-α, TGF-β, and MCP-1) in obesity related lung fibrosis and the implication of obesity in the outcomes of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.

Keywords: fibrosis; high-fat diet; inflammation; lung; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A Proposed model of obesity caused lung fibrosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akdis M., Aab A., Altunbulakli C., Azkur K., Costa R. A., Crameri R., et al. (2016). Interleukins (From IL-1 to IL-38), Interferons, Transforming Growth Factor β, and TNF-α: Receptors, Functions, and Roles in Diseases. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 138, 984–1010. 10.1016/j.jaci.2016.06.033 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Al-Alawi M., Hassan T., Chotirmall S. H. (2014). Transforming Growth Factor β and Severe Asthma: a Perfect Storm. Respir. Med. 108, 1409–1423. 10.1016/j.rmed.2014.08.008 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anand G., Katz P. O. (2010). Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Obesity. Gastroenterol. Clin. North. Am. 39, 39–46. 10.1016/j.gtc.2009.12.002 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Awano N., Jo T., Yasunaga H., Inomata M., Kuse N., Tone M., et al. (2021). Body Mass index and In-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. ERJ Open Res. 7, 00037–2021. 10.1183/23120541.00037-2021 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baack M. L., Forred B. J., Larsen T. D., Jensen D. N., Wachal A. L., Khan M. A., et al. (2016). Consequences of a Maternal High-Fat Diet and Late Gestation Diabetes on the Developing Rat Lung. PLoS One 11, e0160818. 10.1371/journal.pone.0160818 - DOI - PMC - PubMed