Research
Hormonal
Muscle-specific knockout of GLUT4 causes secondary insulin resistance in liver and adipose tissue, demonstrating that muscle glucose transport is critical for systemic insulin sensitivity.
Muscle health is crucial for overall metabolic health. Impairing glucose uptake in muscle can negatively affect how your liver and fat tissue respond to insulin. Exercise and muscle maintenance support this glucose transport mechanism.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Thus, the diminished glucose transport in muscle due to genetic downregulation of GLUT4 selectively in muscle secondarily causes insulin resistance in additional insulin target tissues.
Why this rating
Based on MG4KO mouse models and normalization of insulin action by normalizing blood glucose.
Source
Glucose transport and sensing in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis and metabolic harmony
Mark A. Herman · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2006
DOI 10.1172/jci29027
narrative_reviewCited 349×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Glucose and its metabolites (e.g., lactate, alanine, TCA intermediates) act as signaling molecules that communicate the metabolic status of peripheral tissues (muscle, adipose) to other organs (liver, hypothalamus) to maintain glucose homeostasis.Strong
- Reduced glucose flux into adipose tissue (due to GLUT4 downregulation or knockout) triggers the secretion of Retinol-Binding Protein 4 (RBP4), which acts as a signaling molecule to induce systemic insulin resistance in muscle and liver.Good
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