Fat tissue is far more than just a place where humans store body fat. Fat tissue contains many different types of cells, such as immune cells, endothelial cells, and fat precursor cells. Differences or changes in the number of immune cells, endothelial cells, and fat precursor cells in fat tissue can have a great impact on metabolic health. The abundance of all immune cells, endothelial cells, and fat precursor cell types are known to change when a person loses or gains weight. For example, the abundance of inflammatory cells is often found to decrease markedly with weight loss - and this change has been linked to the profound improvements in metabolic health that occur with weight loss. In contrast, the effects of exercise on immune cells, endothelial cells, and fat precursor cells in fat tissue is not known. Determining the effects of exercise on changes in the cellular composition within fat tissue will provide important information for optimizing lifestyle interventions aimed at improving metabolic health.
