TLR7 gene expression in the subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsy samples collected from 49 individuals classified as 22 obese (BMI=34.13 ± 2.81 kg/m2), 18 overweight (BMI=28.26 ± 1.20 kg/m2), and 9 lean (BMI=22.61 ± 2.40 kg/m2) subjects was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR as described in Subjects and Methods. (A) TLR7 mRNA expression was found to be significantly upregulated in obese (P=0.028) and overweight (P=0.043) individuals as compared with lean counterparts. The upregulated TLR7 expression correlated positively with (B) body mass index (BMI) (r=0.35; P=0.014) and (C) percentage of body fat (r=0.39; P=0.007). Of note, due to missing body fat percentage data, 4 samples were excluded from TLR7 correlation analysis with this clinical marker.
