Cited by 887Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic DiseasesAdipose Tissue and MetabolismCardiovascular Disease and Adiposity

Effects of Moderate and Subsequent Progressive Weight Loss on Metabolic Function and Adipose Tissue Biology in Humans with Obesity

Open access
Magkos, Faidon, Fraterrigo, Gemma, Yoshino, Jun, Luecking, Courtney, Kirbach, Kyleigh, Kelly, Shannon C., de las Fuentes, Lisa, He, Songbing +3 more·2016·Cell Metabolism

Abstract

SUMMARY Although 5%–10% weight loss is routinely recommended for people with obesity, the precise effects of 5% and further weight loss on metabolic health are unclear. We conducted a randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effects of 5.1±0.9% (n=19), 10.8±1.3% (n=9) and 16.4±2.1% (n=9) weight loss, and weight maintenance (n=14) on metabolic outcomes. Five percent weight loss improved adipose tissue, liver and muscle insulin sensitivity, and β-cell function, without a concomitant change in systemic or subcutaneous adipose tissue markers of inflammation. Additional weight loss further improved β-cell function and insulin sensitivity in muscle, and caused stepwise changes in adipose tissue mass, intrahepatic triglyceride content, and adipose tissue expression of genes involved in cholesterol flux, lipid synthesis, extracellular matrix remodeling and oxidative stress. These results demonstrate that moderate 5% weight loss improves metabolic function in multiple organs simultaneously, and progressive weight loss causes dose-dependent alterations in key adipose tissue biological pathways.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.02.005

Cites

47 of 47 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Weight loss clearly improves insulin sensitivity, but effects in different organ systems vary depending on duration and extent of metabolic dysregulation.

    “Weight loss clearly improves insulin sensitivity but the effects in different organ systems have individual variability depending upon the duration and extent of the metabolic dysregulation.”

    From Effect of exercise training on insulin-stimulated glucose disposal: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [63]

    The Results and Discussion section reports improved insulin sensitivity after weight loss and different responses in adipose tissue, liver, and skeletal muscle as weight loss progresses (page not available in our copy). It does not establish that those differences depend on the duration or extent of metabolic dysregulation; the measured dose-dependent difference concerns the amount of weight lost. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Reductions in excess abnormal body fat ameliorate the systemic proinflammatory and prothrombotic milieu associated with obesity.

    “In addition, reductions in excess abnormal body fat ameliorate the systemic proinflammatory and prothrombotic milieu associated with obesity. 31”

    From Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes (2023) · cites this paper as [31]

    The Results and Discussion (page unavailable) report that 11%–16% weight loss was associated with reduced systemic inflammation, but 5% weight loss did not reduce circulating inflammatory markers. The paper does not report an improvement in a prothrombotic milieu, so it supports only the inflammatory part of the claim and only at the greater weight-loss levels studied. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • A 10-15% weight loss may induce remission of T2D or MASLD.

    “A 10–15% loss may induce remission of T2D or MASLD.”

    From Precision obesity medicine: A phenotype-guided framework for pharmacologic therapy across the lifespan (2025) · cites this paper as [71]

    The Results and Discussion report that weight loss of about 11%–16% progressively reduced intrahepatic triglycerides and improved β-cell function, findings relevant to MASLD and T2D. But the paper does not report remission of either condition at 10%–15% weight loss; the Study Subjects section says participants had no diabetes, and its discussion of diabetes remission concerns gastric bypass rather than this trial. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Insulin-mediated suppression of lipolysis in adipose tissue and suppression of hepatic glucose production occur maximally at 5% to 8% weight loss.

    “In general, insulin-mediated suppression of lipolysis in adipose tissue and suppression of HGP occur maximally at 5% to 8% weight loss 63, 64.”
  • Insulin-mediated glucose disposal in skeletal muscle continues to increase with additional weight loss.

    “Insulin-mediated glucose disposal in skeletal muscle continues to increase with additional weight loss 63.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Magkos, F., Fraterrigo, G., Yoshino, J., Luecking, C., Kirbach, K., Kelly, S. C., de las Fuentes, L., He, S., Okunade, A. L., Patterson, B. W., & Klein, S.
Affiliations
  • Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author
Klein, Samuel
Venue
Cell Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-04
Volume
23
Issue
4
Pages
591-601
ISSN
1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2283809486
Cited by
886
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 83 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 90 · 2022: 108 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 93 · 2019: 79 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
70.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Longer Life Foundation
  • Pershing Square Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health (5p60dk020579-35, KL2TR000450, UL1TR000448)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK37948, DK20579, DK56341, R01DK104995, R01DK037948, DK104995, P60-DK-020579, P30DK092950, P30DK056341, P30DK020579)
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR-024992, UL1RR024992)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Disease and Adiposity
Keywords
obesity, weight loss, weight maintenance, insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function, adipose tissue, liver, skeletal muscle, intrahepatic triglyceride, adipose tissue inflammation, cholesterol flux, lipogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, oxidative stress, dose-dependent effects
MeSH terms
Adipose Tissue, Adult, Female, Humans, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Liver, Male, Middle Aged, Muscles, Obesity, Weight Loss, Insulin-Secreting Cells

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review