{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T05:46:19Z","timestamp":1782279979243,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003074","name":"Agencia Nacional de Promoci\u00f3cun Cient\u00edfica y Tecnol\u00f3gica","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003074","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Obesity and fatty liver may worsen COVID-19 outcomes, but the mechanism by which adipose tissue infection contributes to liver injury is unclear. We aimed to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 infection of human adipocytes promotes inflammation and hepatic lipid accumulation, and to identify the underlying mechanisms.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Mesenchymal stem cell\u2013derived human adipocytes were infected with Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 strain. Cell-surface ACE2 expression was measured in adipocytes. Viral replication and infectious titers were measured, and adipocyte morphology, cytokine\/adipokine secretion, and lipid metabolism gene expression were analyzed. Culture supernatants from infected adipocytes were then applied to Huh7.5 hepatocytes to evaluate steatosis and fibrogenic activation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>SARS-CoV-2 productively infected adipocytes, which express cell-surface ACE2, leading to hypertrophy, increased IL-6 secretion, a higher leptin\/adiponectin ratio, and lipid droplet accumulation. The infectious virus was released into the supernatants. However, neutralization with anti-Spike antibodies or UV-C inactivation abolished this effect, indicating that hepatocyte lipid accumulation depended on infectious virus rather than on soluble adipocyte-derived mediators alone.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Adipose tissue can serve as a source of infectious SARS-CoV-2 that promotes hepatic steatosis and fibrogenic activation, suggesting a mechanism by which obesity and fatty liver may worsen COVID-19 outcomes, although the contribution of residual infectious virus versus adipocyte-derived factors cannot be fully distinguished. At present, the data do not support an independent role for adipocyte-derived soluble mediators in this effect. The study is intended as a mechanistic\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      analysis of adipocyte\u2013hepatocyte crosstalk during SARS-CoV-2 infection.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1848780","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T04:47:32Z","timestamp":1782276452000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["SARS-CoV-2-infected adipocytes drive adipose inflammation and hepatocyte lipid accumulation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Cinthya Alicia Marcela","family":"L\u00f3pez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Micaela","family":"Parra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]},{"name":"Albert Einstein College of Medicine","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosa Nicole","family":"Freiberger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patricio","family":"Jarmoluk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franco Agust\u00edn","family":"Sviercz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jorge","family":"Quarleri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y Tecnol\u00f3gicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Biom\u00e9dicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), Laboratorio de Inmunopatolog\u00eda Viral, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)","place":["Buenos Aires, Argentina"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M. 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