Research
Hormonal
Elevated circulating FGF21 levels in humans are associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome, suggesting a state of 'FGF21 resistance' similar to insulin resistance.
In obesity, your body produces high levels of FGF21 as a stress response, but you may become resistant to its effects. This resistance is linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Managing weight and metabolic health may help restore sensitivity to this hormone.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
With respect to FGF21’s beneficial effects on murine glucose and lipid metabolism, the elevated FGF21 blood concentrations observed in murine and human diseases with disturbed glucose and lipid metabolism are completely unexpected. This has prompted the hypothesis of FGF21 resistance...
Why this rating
Based on consistent observational data linking high FGF21 to metabolic derangements and mechanistic studies in mice.
Source
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21—Metabolic Role in Mice and Men
Harald Staiger et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2017
DOI 10.1210/er.2017-00016
narrative_reviewCited 267×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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