Feeding Mice Fat Promotes Foam Cell Formation in Mesenteric Lymph Nodes Without Leading to Ascites

Angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) regulates plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting LPL. Inactivation of ANGPTL4 decreases plasma triglycerides and reduces the risk of coronary artery disease. Unfortunately, targeting ANGPTL4 for the therapeutic management of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis is hampered by the observation that mice and monkeys in which ANGPTL4 is inactivated exhibit lipid accumulation in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). In mice these pathological events exclusively unfold upon feeding a high saturated FA diet and are followed by an ultimately lethal pro-inflammatory response and chylous ascites. Here, we show that mice fed a diet rich in FAs develop numerous lipid-filled giant cells in their MLNs, yet do not have elevated serum amyloid and haptoglobin, do not exhibit ascites, and survive, unlike mice fed a saturated FA-rich diet. In RAW264.7 macrophages, the saturated FA, palmitate, markedly increased markers of inflammation and the unfolded protein response, whereas the -unsaturated elaidate and the -unsaturated oleate had the opposite effect. In conclusion, and saturated FAs have very distinct biological effects in macrophages. Furthermore, lipid accumulation in MLNs is uncoupled from activation of an acute-phase response and chylous ascites, suggesting that ANGPTL4 should not be fully dismissed as target for dyslipidemia.