Research
Hormonal
Adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory adipokine, improves insulin sensitivity by activating AMPK to enhance fatty acid oxidation and glucose uptake, but its levels are decreased in obesity due to suppression by inflammatory signals.
Adiponectin helps muscles use glucose and fat for energy. In obesity, this protective hormone is suppressed by inflammation. Restoring adiponectin levels (e.g., through weight loss or exercise) can help restore insulin sensitivity.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Adiponectin activates AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK) through its receptors, ADIPOR1/2, to enhance fatty acid oxidation and glucose uptake in muscle and to suppress gluconeogenesis in liver... adiponectin levels are decreased in obese rodents and humans
Why this rating
Well-established mechanism in literature cited.
Source
Adipokines Mediate Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
Hyokjoon Kwon et al. · Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2013
DOI 10.3389/fendo.2013.00071
narrative_reviewCited 662×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Pro-inflammatory adipokines such as TNF-α and IL-6 induce insulin resistance by activating kinases (JNK, IKKβ) that phosphorylate IRS1/2 on serine residues, thereby inhibiting tyrosine phosphorylation and downstream insulin signaling.Strong
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