 Gallbladder disease continues to be a major healthcare problem in the United States with more than 750,000 cholecystectomies being performed each year. In the last decade, the proportion of elective cholecystectomies performed for chronic acalculous cholecystitis has more than doubled. During this same time, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. In addition, obesity-induced visceral steatosis is known to cause a local inflammatory process resulting in organ dysfunction, with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis being a well established example of this phenomenon. Previous data from our lab also have shown that both congenital and diet-induced obesity result in cholecystosteatosis, an increase in gallbladder wall fats accompanied by altered gallbladder motility and absorption. This phenomenon also has been documented in humans, with patients with chronic acalculous andor calculous cholecystitis having increased gallbladder fat than nondiseased controls. 