Research

Hormonal

Obesity-induced chronic low-grade inflammation causes insulin resistance by activating proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) and signaling pathways (JNK, NF-κB, JAK-STAT), which interfere with insulin signaling and action.

If you are overweight, your body fat is not just stored energy; it is biologically active tissue releasing inflammatory signals that block insulin. Managing weight and reducing visceral fat are critical steps to lowering this inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Obesity-associated chronic low-grade inflammation is responsible for the decrease of insulin sensitivity... Obesity might increase the expression of some inflammatory cytokines and activate several signaling pathways, both of which are involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance by interfering with insulin signaling and action.
Li Chen et al. · International Journal of Endocrinology · 2015

Why this rating

This is a review article synthesizing multiple experimental studies and animal models, providing strong mechanistic evidence, though direct human clinical trial data for specific interventions is limited.

Source

Mechanisms Linking Inflammation to Insulin Resistance

Li Chen et al. · International Journal of Endocrinology · 2015

DOI 10.1155/2015/508409

narrative_reviewCited 621×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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