Inhibitory effects of resveratrol on hypoxia-induced inflammation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and macrophages

Resveratrol is a natural compound proposed to posses powerful anti-obesity effects. Hypoxia may be an underlying mechanism for adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity. We have previously shown that resveratrol mediates a reduction in hypoxia induced inflammation in whole adipose tissue, thus in this study we investigated whether hypoxia and resveratrol primarily affect adipocytes or the macrophages in the adipose tissue. Hypoxia induced a significant increase in the production of hypoxic key markers in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and THP-1 macrophages, and stimulated gene expression levels of inflammatory markers in macrophages with almost no effect in adipocytes. Resveratrol attenuated the hypoxia induced increase in gene expression levels. These results suggest that the hypoxia-induced inflammatory response in whole adipose tissue mainly is driven by resident macrophages. Moreover, the results suggest that resveratrol could have treatment potential by attenuating adipose tissue inflammation in obesity.