Research

Hormonal

Chronic inflammation in adipose tissue, driven by macrophage infiltration (M1 phenotype) and pro-inflammatory cytokine release (TNFα, IL-6), directly causes insulin resistance and contributes to the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Obesity involves a biological feedback loop where excess fat tissue triggers chronic inflammation, which worsens insulin resistance and makes weight loss harder. Reducing fat mass is the most effective way to lower this inflammation and improve metabolic health, rather than just focusing on calorie counting alone.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the recruitment of myeloid cells have been shown to directly correlate with metabolic dysfunction observed in obese patients... This local adipose tissue inflammation triggers systemic inflammation, which is closely associated with the development of obesity-related comorbidities.
Lisa Rück et al. · Molecular and Cellular Pediatrics · 2023

Why this rating

The paper is a comprehensive review citing numerous human and animal studies, though it does not present new primary clinical trial data itself.

Source

Relevance and consequence of chronic inflammation for obesity development

Lisa Rück et al. · Molecular and Cellular Pediatrics · 2023

DOI 10.1186/s40348-023-00170-6

narrative_reviewCited 25×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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