Frequency of T cell subsets in the PB and VAT of the three groups studied
| Cell frequency (%) | OB-ND (n=23) | OB-IFG&D (n=17) | LC (n=11) | ||||||
| PB | VAT | P value | PB | VAT | P value | PB | VAT | P value | |
| T cells | 24.5 (15.7–26.7) | 35.5 (28.9–47.4) | <0.0001 | 19.1 (17.1–30.9) | 41.2 (32.9–56.3) | 0.0005 | 25.3 (10.9–30) | 22.4 (17.5–31.2) | ns |
| CD4 Tconv | 92.1 (89.7–94) | 93.9 (90–96.2) | ns | 93.2 (88.9–96.2) | 94.4 (90.8–97.2) | ns | 94.5 (87.1–95.3) | 97.4 (92.6–98.4) | 0.009 |
| IFN-γ+ CD4 Tconv | 20.1 (9–36.2) | 45.5 (31.9–55.1) | 0.0002 | 18.9 (12.5–30.1) | 51.6 (39.6–56.3) | <0.0001 | 15.4 (8.9–27.8) | 60.3 (55.1–74.3) | 0.001 |
| TNF-α+ CD4 Tconv | 32.6 (16.9–41.3) | 56.2 (44.9–61.1) | 0.0003 | 40.9 (25.0–45.6) | 61.9 (55.8–68.8) | 0.0008 | 29.2 (20–46.9) | 58.3 (51.2–69.2) | 0.001 |
| IL-10+ CD4 Tconv | 0.5 (0.4–0.8) | 0.9 (0.4–1.9) | ns | 0.6 (0.3–0.9) | 1.0 (0.3–1.5) | ns | 0.6 (0.3–1) | 0.5 (0.2–1) | ns |
| IL-17+ CD4 Tconv | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 1.1 (0.7–3) | ns | 0.8 (0.7–1.2) | 1.4 (0.5–2.6) | ns | 0.7 (0.3–1.2) | 0.9 (0.2–1.6) | ns |
| GzmB+ CD4 Tconv | 7.2 (2–10.9) | 3.6 (1.3–6.1) | 0.0009 | 4.5 (1.0–26.6) | 2.1 (0.9–6.4) | ns | 1.1 (0.3–3.2) | 1.9 (0.7–4.3) | ns |
| Ki-67+ CD4 Tconv | 1.7 (1.3–2.5) | 2.2 (1.5–2.9) | 0.008 | 1.4 (0.8–1.8) | 2.7 (1.9–3.4) | 0.01 | 1.4 (0.8–1.9) | 1.7 (0.8–2.4) | ns |
| CD8 T cells | 31.7 (24.9–36.1) | 33.8 (27.1–40.3) | ns | 26.5 (21.4–38.9) | 40 (23.5–43.1) | ns | 24.5 (20.2–28.9) | 26.5 (18.8–32.9) | ns |
| IFN-γ+ CD8 T cells | 38.6 (29.9–56.2) | 50.5 (33.6–61.8) | ns | 40.3 (24.9–60.3) | 63.3 (52.5–69.6) | 0.007 | 23.4 (20.1–39.2) | 63.9 (44.8–75.3) | 0.001 |
| TNF-α+ CD8 T cells | 23.1 (12.2–41.2) | 28.4 (20.6–36.6) | ns | 30.2 (11.3–45.4) | 41.6 (31.7–55.9) | 0.04 | 27.9 (11.6–40.3) | 43.4 (27.9–58.5) | 0.002 |
| IL-10+ CD8 T cells | 0.4 (0.2–0.7) | 0.5 (0.2–1) | ns | 0.3 (0.1–0.5) | 0.7 (0.1–1.0) | ns | 0.3 (0.3–0.9) | 0.4 (0.2–0.7) | ns |
| IL-17+ CD8 T cells | 0.2 (0.03–0.5) | 0.2 (0–0.5) | ns | 0.1 (0.0–0.2) | 0.1 (0.0–0.2) | ns | 0.1 (0.02–0.2) | 0.2 (0–0.9) | ns |
| GzmB+ CD8 T cells | 31.0 (17.8–51.8) | 22.4 (9–31.7) | 0.0002 | 40.4 (19.2–63.2) | 19.5 (6.4–35.0) | 0.002 | 15.9 (8.9–46.6) | 20.2 (14.2–26.8) | ns |
| Ki-67+ CD8 T cells | 1.2 (0.7–2.1) | 2.3 (1.7–3.4) | <0.0001 | 1.3 (0.6–2.6) | 2.4 (1.4–3.8) | 0.02 | 1.6 (0.8–2.6) | 1.3 (0.8–3.9) | ns |
The Wilcoxon test was used for comparisons between PB and VAT of the same patient.
GzmB, Granzyme B; IFN-γ, interferon-γ; IL, interleukin; LC, non-diabetic lean controls; OB-IFG&D, obese patients with impaired fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes; OB-ND, obese patients without dysglycemia; PB, peripheral blood; Tconv, conventional T cells; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; VAT, visceral adipose tissue.