Psychiatric disorders have been widely reported to be associated with systemic
inflammation upregulation and adiposity. However, there are no data that link adipose tissue
inflammation to these
mental disorders. The analysis of
adipokines and
inflammation-related markers in adipose tissue could help to elucidate the potential association between
obesity and mental health. An observational study was conducted in samples of patients consisting of non-obese and obese subjects, who were diagnosed with anxiety or
mood disorders. Gene expression of
adiponectin (ADIPOQ),
leptin (LEP) and inflammatory markers (
IL6, IL1B, TNF, CCL2, CSF3, ITGAM, and PLAUR) were determined in visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissues. Our results showed that the gene expression of
adipokines and
inflammation-related markers was higher in the VAT and SAT of obese subjects compared with non-obese subjects. Regarding
mental disorders, all the inflammatory genes in the VAT were significantly higher in non-obese subjects with anxiety or
mood disorders than in subjects without
mental disorders, except for TNF and ITGAM. Additionally,
IL6 expression was significantly lower in SAT. In contrast, obese patients diagnosed with anxiety or
mood disorders only showed significantly lower expression levels of IL1B in VAT and ADIPOQ in SAT when compared with obese subjects without
mental disorders. These data suggest the potential involvement of VAT
inflammation in anxiety and
mood disorders, involving complex mechanisms which are strongly affected by
obesity.