Emerging studies indicate that the immune system can regulate systemic metabolism. Here, we show that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) stimulates T cells to induce selective white adipose loss, which protects against obesity, improves glucose metabolism, and mitigates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Unexpectedly, adipose loss was not caused by alterations in food intake, absorption, or energy expenditure. Rather, it was induced by the excessive loss of lipids through the skin as sebum. TSLP and T cells regulated sebum release and sebum-associated antimicrobial peptide expression in the steady state. In human skin, TSLP expression correlated directly with sebum-associated gene expression. Thus, we establish a paradigm in which adipose loss can be achieved by means of sebum hypersecretion and uncover a role for adaptive immunity in skin barrier function through sebum secretion.

新兴研究表明，免疫系统可以调节全身代谢。在这里，我们展示了胸腺基质淋巴细胞生成素 (TSLP) 刺激 T 细胞诱导选择性白色脂肪损失，从而防止肥胖、改善葡萄糖代谢并减轻非酒精性脂肪性肝炎。出乎意料的是，脂肪损失并不是由食物摄入、吸收或能量消耗的改变引起的。相反，它是由作为皮脂通过皮肤过度流失的脂质引起的。TSLP 和 T 细胞在稳定状态下调节皮脂释放和皮脂相关抗菌肽的表达。在人体皮肤中，TSLP表达与皮脂相关基因表达直接相关。因此，我们建立了一个范式，其中可以通过皮脂分泌过多来实现脂肪损失，并通过皮脂分泌揭示适应性免疫在皮肤屏障功能中的作用。