Innate immunity and low-grade inflammation in obesity

Obesity is emerging as the most serious public health problem of the 21st century. It is a disorder that begins in childhood, flourishes in adulthood, and gives rise to multiple health problems due to the inflammation of adipose tissue that is one of the hallmarks of obesity; its inflammatory phenotype is a central process linking obesity to systemic inflammation, which is critical in metabolic diseases. Molecular and immune factors, together with coadjuvant circumstances and environmental and behavioral triggers, are involved in its pathogenesis. In this text some aspects of innate immunity and lipoinflammation are reviewed because they constitute a very attractive and complex field in this process.