External Website:
http://www.unmc.edu/physiology/viswanathan.htm

The overall focus of our laboratory is to determine the link between obesity and cardiovascular disease. It is now well-established that adipose tissue (AT)-specific inflammation impairs the storage and secretory functions of AT thereby leading to other metabolic disorders. It is also clear that different fatty acids have differential effects in modulating AT inflammation. For example, saturated fatty acids induce inflammatory pathways in AT whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids, in particular omega-3 fatty acids reduce AT inflammation. We and others have reported that dietary fish oil containing omega-3 fatty acids reduces AT-inflammation with a concomitant improvement in obesity-associated metabolic disorders such as dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis. Currently, our studies are focused on determining the mechanisms by which these fatty acids mediate their anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering effects in obesity. Becasue cyclooxygenase-derived epicosanoids play a critical role in modulating the inflammatory response, our studies are focused on determining the interplay between cyclooxygenases and omega-3 fatty acids in modulating the inflammatory pathways that are activated in obese AT.