{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T00:53:35Z","timestamp":1760057615802,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]],"date-time":"2025-02-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739318400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"CNPq","award":["312350\/2021-0"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["312350\/2021-0"]}]},{"name":"BRDE-PUCPR","award":["312350\/2021-0"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["312350\/2021-0"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Obesity has been identified as an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 unfavorable outcomes. Several factors, such as increased ACE2 receptor expression and chronic inflammation, can contribute to this relationship, yet the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway is also a key element. Our primary goal was to determine whether chronic NLRP3 inflammasome activation in people with obesity is different in critical COVID-19 and in critical chronic conditions. A retrospective analysis was conducted using clinical data and post-mortem lung tissue samples from 14 COVID-19 patients with obesity (group A) and 9 patients with obesity who died from non-COVID-19 causes (group B). Immunohistochemical analysis assessed twelve markers related to the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. Group A showed a significantly higher expression of ASC (p = 0.0387) and CASP-1 (p = 0.0142). No significant differences were found for IL-8, TNF-\u03b1, NF-kB, NLRP3, IL-1\u03b2, and gasdermin-D. Group B had higher levels of IL-6 (p &lt; 0.0001), IL-18 (p = 0.002), CASP-9 (p &lt; 0.0001), and HIF (p = 0.0327). We concluded that COVID-19 activates the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, possibly leading to pyroptotic cell death mediated by caspase-1. In contrast, people with obesity without COVID-19, despite exhibiting some markers of the NLRP3 inflammasome, are more likely to experience necroptosis mediated by caspase-9.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26041541","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]],"date-time":"2025-02-12T06:06:06Z","timestamp":1739340366000},"page":"1541","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["COVID-19 Induces Greater NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation in Obese Patients than Other Chronic Illnesses: A Case\u2013Control Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4674-9618","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ra\u00edssa Campos","family":"D\u2019Amico","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0069-3823","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seigo","family":"Nagashima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3391-9913","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucas Baena","family":"Carstens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Karina de Guadalupe","family":"Bertoldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-0332-7344","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sabrina","family":"Mataruco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4518-8679","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J\u00falio Cesar","family":"Hon\u00f3rio D\u2019Agostini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80060-240, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisa Carolina","family":"Hlatchuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80060-240, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sofia Brunoro","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lucia","family":"de Noronha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80060-240, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5822-6622","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina Pellegrino","family":"Baena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Paran\u00e1, Curitiba 80215-901, Paran\u00e1, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.37201\/req\/122.2022","article-title":"Review Insights for COVID-19 in 2023","volume":"36","author":"Javier","year":"2023","journal-title":"Rev. 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