Fig. 5

Increased adipose tissue TLR8 gene expression correlates with typical inflammatory markers. The adipose tissue gene expression of TLR8 and signature inflammatory cytokines/chemokines (TNF-α, IL-18, and IL-8) was determined in 49 non-diabetic (ND) and 45 type-2 diabetic (T2D) individuals using quantitative real-time RT-PCR while plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were determined using commercial ELISA kit and following the manufacturer’s recommendations. The representative data from two independent determinations show that TLR8 mRNA expression was associated with the expression of (a) TNF-α_[ND] (r = 0.45, P = 0.001); (b) IL-18_[ND] (r = 0.29, P = 0.04); (c) IL-8_[ND] (r = 0.46, P = 0.001); (d) Plasma CRP_[ND] (r = 0.36, P = 0.02); (e) TNF-α_[T2D] (r = 0.31, P = 0.04); (f) IL-18_[T2D] (r = 0.53, P = 0.0001); and (g) IL-8_[T2D] (r = 0.47, P = 0.001). (h) TLR8 gene expression in T2D patients did not correlate with plasma CRP levels (r = −0.04, P = 0.81). Due to missing plasma samples, TLR8 correlation with plasma CRP levels is shown for 38 ND and 32 T2D individuals