The body’s main deposit of abdominal fat hangs like an apron over the organs of the abdomen. This adipose tissue plays important immune roles, but can also serve as a source of chronic inflammation in obese individuals, possibly contributing to metabolic syndrome. The omentum is also a common site of ovarian cancer metastasis.
Fat-associated lymphoid clusters, or milky spots, filter abdominal fluid. Collections of immune cells look for signs of pathogenic invaders and internal damage and mount appropriate responses. In obese individuals, however, these cells can become over active, leading to chronic inflammation and autoimmune reactivity.
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