Research

Hormonal

Chronic glucocorticoid exposure simultaneously activates triglyceride synthesis and lipolysis in inguinal adipose tissue, maintaining neutral fat storage levels while increasing metabolic turnover.

Chronic stress or elevated cortisol levels trigger a complex response in belly fat (inguinal fat) where the body simultaneously builds up and breaks down triglycerides. This high turnover can contribute to metabolic issues like insulin resistance without necessarily causing immediate, visible weight gain. Managing stress is crucial not just for weight, but for the metabolic health of fat tissue.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
In agreement with the fact that glucocorticoids activated genes in both TG biosynthetic and lipolytic pathways, we confirmed that 4-day glucocorticoid treatment increased TG synthesis and lipolysis concomitantly in inguinal fat.
Chi-Yi Yu et al. · PLoS ONE · 2010

Why this rating

Strong mechanistic evidence (ChIP-seq, reporter assays) combined with in vivo physiological validation (stable isotope labeling, lipolysis assays) in mice.

Source

Genome-Wide Analysis of Glucocorticoid Receptor Binding Regions in Adipocytes Reveal Gene Network Involved in Triglyceride Homeostasis

Chi-Yi Yu et al. · PLoS ONE · 2010

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0015188

mechanism_onlyCited 176×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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