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What is the context of this research?

The immune systems of overweight people are more activated than leaner people. The immune system is powerful and it does damage to the body when it is not properly controlled. Stress stimulates the immune system in people of all body types and levels of the immune protein IL-6 increase in the blood. However, overweight people show much larger IL-6 responses to repeated stress, and we don't know why.



TNF is another important immune protein that is involved in responding to stress. We want to investigate whether TNF responses are greater in overweight individuals and if this explains their bigger IL-6 responses (TNF stimulates IL-6).

What is the significance of this project?

More than 2/3 of US adults are overweight. These people are already at risk for a number of diseases just because they have excess body fat. Stress is also a prevalent part of the lives of many Americans. This project is critical to help us understand why obesity makes stress responses so much more dangerous by understanding what makes overweight people's immune response bigger than in leaner people.

What are the goals of the project?