Coinhibitory suppression of T cell activation by CD40 protects against obesity and adipose tissue inflammation in mice.

Background: Costimulatory cascades such as the CD40L-CD40 dyad enhance immune cell activation and inflammation during atherosclerosis. Here, we tested the hypothesis that CD40 directly modulates traits of the metabolic syndrome in diet-induced obesity in mice.

Methods And Results: To induce the metabolic syndrome, wild-type or CD40(-/-) mice consumed a high-fat diet for 20 weeks.