Abstract 207: Reduced Vascular Density in Human Adipose Tissue in Diabetes is Associated with Reduced Angiogenesis and De-differentiation of Endothelial Cells

Emerging evidence suggests that impaired adipose tissue (AT) angiogenesis leads to metabolic dysfunction. The de-differentiation of endothelial cells (EC) into a mesenchymal phenotype (EndoMT) in AT vasculature could be a potential contributor to dysfunctional EC including impaired angiogenesis. One of the major drivers of EndoMT is TGF, and both macrophages and T cells infiltrating AT in obesity could contribute to EndoMT via TGF production. The objective of this project was to characterize angiogenesis and the EC phenotype in human AT vasculature. We examined functional angiogenesis and gene expression in omental (OM) AT from obese T2D subjects (BMI>33, HbA1c>6.5%) and non-diabetic (ND) subjects (BMI>33). Sprouting angiogenesis of AT explants embedded in matrigel was 1.5-fold higher in ND vs. T2D (p<0.05). Also, capillary and arteriolar density assessed as CD31 and α-SMC immuno-positivity, was 2-fold higher in ND vs. T2D. Using a Human Angiogenesis PCR Array we found that in T2D vs. ND OM AT, there was ...