LEP and infection: The expression profile of SGBS adipocytes undergoes significant alterations post-infection, manifesting in noteworthy changes, such as a pronounced downregulation of leptin and genes associated with lipid synthesis, including PPARgamma, FASN, FABP4, and PLIN1. PPARgamma, a pivotal transcription factor crucial for adipogenesis, plays a key role in triglyceride accumulation within adipocytes by initiating the lipogenesis machinery [35,36].