Research

Energy balance

Chronic treatment with GDF15 promotes greater weight loss and reduces NAFLD compared to caloric restriction alone by maintaining energy expenditure and preventing adaptive thermogenesis in skeletal muscle.

This research suggests that GDF15 therapy could help overcome the metabolic slowdown (adaptive thermogenesis) that typically halts weight loss during dieting. By maintaining energy expenditure, particularly through fatty acid oxidation in muscle, GDF15 allows for greater fat loss than dieting alone. This is relevant for individuals who hit weight loss plateaus despite strict caloric restriction.

StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Here we find that, in addition to suppressing appetite, GDF15 counteracts compensatory reductions in energy expenditure, eliciting greater weight loss and reductions in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) compared to caloric restriction alone.
Dongdong Wang et al. · Nature · 2023

Why this rating

High-quality peer-reviewed research (Nature) with robust animal models, multiple doses, and mechanistic validation (KO mice).

Source

GDF15 promotes weight loss by enhancing energy expenditure in muscle

Dongdong Wang et al. · Nature · 2023

DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-06249-4

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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