- Rohm, Theresa V;
- Castellani Gomes Dos Reis, Felipe;
- Isaac, Roi;
- Murphy, Cairo;
- Cunha e Rocha, Karina;
- Bandyopadhyay, Gautam;
- Gao, Hong;
- Libster, Avraham M;
- Zapata, Rizaldy C;
- Lee, Yun Sok;
- Ying, Wei;
- Miciano, Charlene;
- Wang, Allen;
- Olefsky, Jerrold M
The obesity epidemic continues to worsen worldwide, driving metabolic and chronic inflammatory diseases. Thiazolidinediones, such as rosiglitazone (Rosi), are PPARγ agonists that promote 'M2-like' adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) polarization and cause insulin sensitization. As ATM-derived small extracellular vesicles (ATM-sEVs) from lean mice are known to increase insulin sensitivity, we assessed the metabolic effects of ATM-sEVs from Rosi-treated obese male mice (Rosi-ATM-sEVs). Here we show that Rosi leads to improved glucose and insulin tolerance, transcriptional repolarization of ATMs and increased sEV secretion. Administration of Rosi-ATM-sEVs rescues obesity-induced glucose intolerance and insulin sensitivity in vivo without the known thiazolidinedione-induced adverse effects of weight gain or haemodilution. Rosi-ATM-sEVs directly increase insulin sensitivity in adipocytes, myotubes and primary mouse and human hepatocytes. Additionally, we demonstrate that the miRNAs within Rosi-ATM-sEVs, primarily miR-690, are responsible for these beneficial metabolic effects. Thus, using ATM-sEVs with specific miRNAs may provide a therapeutic path to induce insulin sensitization.