Given the high infiltrations of creeping fat with lymphocytes such as CD8+ T cells and monocytes51, it is plausible to argue that local leptin production affects the differentiation, as well as the functionality of fat residing lymphocytes, especially in regard of the observation that T cells express leptin receptors and that leptin receptor-deficient T cells fail to induce colitis in mice11,46. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and colitis.