Research
Energy balance
Proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6, and leptin contribute to increased energy expenditure and reduced food intake, which counteracts obesity.
Elevated levels of certain inflammatory markers (like IL-6 during exercise) may actually aid in weight management by boosting energy expenditure. Suppressing these markers unnecessarily might hinder weight loss efforts.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The same cytokines stimulate energy expenditure and induce satiety and thus limit adiposity and improve glucose homeostasis.
Why this rating
Strong evidence from transgenic mouse models (knockouts and overexpression), but human data is observational or acute infusion-based.
Source
Inflammation during obesity is not all bad: evidence from animal and human studies
Jianping Ye et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2012
DOI 10.1152/ajpendo.00266.2012
narrative_reviewCited 172×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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