Figure 9.

CD68 expression in human subcutaneous adipose tissue. Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were aspirated from the subcutaneous abdominal region of human subjects whose BMIs ranged from 19.4 to 60.1 kg/m². CD68 transcript expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. (a) BMI was a significant predictor of CD68 transcript expression (r² = 0.43, P < 0.01). (b) Immunohistochemical detection and quantitation of CD68-expressing cells in subcutaneous adipose tissue from obese and lean subjects shows that the average adipocyte cross-sectional area was a strong predictor of the percentage of CD68-expressing cells (r² = 0.86, P < 0.001). Typical micrographs from (c) an obese (BMI 50.8 kg/m²) female and (d) a lean (25.7 kg/m²) female subject are shown. Arrows in c indicate F4/80⁺ cells. Squares and diamonds denote female and male subjects, respectively. Calibration mark = 40 μm.