Research
Hormonal
Obesity induces a pro-inflammatory state in adipose tissue characterized by elevated secretion of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8) and PAI-1, which contributes to insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk.
Your body fat is not just dead weight; it actively releases hormones and inflammatory signals that can make you resistant to insulin and increase heart disease risk. Losing weight, particularly visceral fat, can reverse this inflammatory state and improve metabolic health.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
With the exception of adiponectin, most circulating factors are elevated. From this perspective, obesity can be described as a pro-inflammatory condition.
Why this rating
The paper is a review citing multiple prospective studies and mechanistic experiments, though it lacks a single definitive clinical trial.
Source
Secretory factors from human adipose tissue and their functional role
Hans Hauner · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2005
DOI 10.1079/pns2005428
narrative_reviewCited 389×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Weight loss interventions restore the normal secretion pattern of adipokines, reducing inflammatory markers and improving metabolic profiles.Good
- Pharmacological agents such as thiazolidinediones, metformin, and statins can directly modify adipose tissue secretion to reduce inflammation and improve metabolic markers.Moderate
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