Research
Hormonal
Hypoxia in expanding adipose tissue drives a complex response involving both pro-angiogenic and pro-fibrotic pathways, with HIF-1α playing a dominant pro-fibrotic role in obesity.
Low oxygen levels in fat tissue are a double-edged sword. They try to create new blood vessels, but they also trigger scarring and inflammation. In obesity, the scarring and inflammation often win out, worsening metabolic health.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
HIF-1α activation is classically described as pro-angiogenic, but recent studies have shown it to also be pro-fibrotic and proinflammatory... HIF-1α signaling dominates in obesity, playing a causative role in early AT dysfunction.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple genetic mouse models and human studies cited.
Source
The ominous triad of adipose tissue dysfunction: inflammation, fibrosis, and impaired angiogenesis
Clair Crewe et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2017
DOI 10.1172/jci88883
narrative_reviewCited 717×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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