The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Exercise-Induced Changes in Visceral Adipose Tissue Mass Are Regulated by IL-6 Signaling: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Open accessAbstract
Visceral adipose tissue is harmful to metabolic health. Exercise training reduces visceral adipose tissue mass, but the underlying mechanisms are not known. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) stimulates lipolysis and is released from skeletal muscle during exercise. We hypothesized that exercise-induced reductions in visceral adipose tissue mass are mediated by IL-6. In this randomized placebo-controlled trial, we assigned abdominally obese adults to tocilizumab (IL-6 receptor antibody) or placebo during a 12-week intervention with either bicycle exercise or no exercise. While exercise reduced visceral adipose tissue mass, this effect of exercise was abolished in the presence of IL-6 blockade. Changes in body weight and total adipose tissue mass showed similar tendencies, whereas lean body mass did not differ between groups. Also, IL-6 blockade increased cholesterol levels, an effect not reversed by exercise. Thus, IL-6 is required for exercise to reduce visceral adipose tissue mass and emphasizes a potentially important metabolic consequence of IL-6 blockade.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
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?
In the citing paper
“Obese adults receiving tocilizumab, subjected to 12 weeks of endurance exercise, showed a blunted exercise-induced loss of visceral fat mass compared with controls, as measured by DEXA [78].”
In the citing paper
“Conversely, blocking IL-6 signaling with tocilizumab during exercise blunts this metabolic effect and prevents the reduction in fat, underscoring the key role of IL-6 in exercise-induced fat mobilization [46].”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
In the citing paper
“another study has shown that the intravenous administration of IL-6 at higher concentrations (>100 pg/mL, comparable to those used during strenuous exercise) stimulates lipolysis.”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
In the citing paper
“The myokine IL-6 mediates the exercise-associated anti-inflammatory effects both acutely with each bout of exercise and as a consequence of training adaptation, including reduction in abdominal adiposity.”
From Muscle–Organ Crosstalk: The Emerging Roles of Myokines (2020) · cites this paper as [136]
In the citing paper
“Exercise training will lead to a decrease in visceral and cardiac fat mass (136, 138, 221) and hence a decrease in circulating inflammatory molecules via a mechanism that involves exercise-induced increase in IL-6 (136), as described above.”
From Muscle–Organ Crosstalk: The Emerging Roles of Myokines (2020) · cites this paper as [136]
In the citing paper
“acute exercise in humans also releases additional molecules79, such as growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF15)80 and IL-6 (REF.81), which also affect lipolysis”
From Exerkines in health, resilience and disease (2022) · cites this paper as [81]
In the citing paper
“Notably, this effect appears specific to high-intensity exercise, as IL-6R blockade does not influence perceived exertion during moderate-intensity exercise [ 34 , 44 ].”
From IL-6 Activity is Required for Maximal Catecholamine Release During High-Intensity Exercise in Men (2026) · cites this paper as [44]
Citations
Cites
A guideline of selecting and reporting intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability research
Koo, T. K., & Li, M. Y. (2016) · Journal of Chiropractic Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012 · Cited by 31,709
Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M. R., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I.-M., Nieman, D. C., & Swain, D. P. (2011) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e318213fefb · Cited by 9,319
Ference, B. A., Ginsberg, H. N., Graham, I., Ray, K. K., Packard, C. J., Bruckert, E., Hegele, R. A., Krauss, R. M., Raal, F. J., Schunkert, H., et al. (2017) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehx144 · Cited by 3,962
Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN)—Terminology Consensus Project process and outcome
on behalf of SBRN Terminology Consensus Project Participants, Tremblay, M. S., Aubert, S., Barnes, J. D., Saunders, T. J., Carson, V., Latimer-Cheung, A. E., Chastin, S. F. M., Altenburg, T. M., & Chinapaw, M. J. M. (2017) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0525-8 · Cited by 3,793
The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise
Petersen, A. M. W., & Pedersen, B. K. (2005) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00164.2004 · Cited by 3,100
Fox, C. S., Massaro, J. M., Hoffmann, U., Pou, K. M., Maurovich-Horvat, P., Liu, C.-Y., Vasan, R. S., Murabito, J. M., Meigs, J. B., Cupples, L. A., et al. (2007) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.106.675355 · Cited by 2,882
Muscle as an Endocrine Organ: Focus on Muscle-Derived Interleukin-6
Pedersen, B. K., & Febbraio, M. A. (2008) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.90100.2007 · Cited by 2,388
General and abdominal adiposity and risk of death in Europe
Pischon, T., Boeing, H., Hoffmann, K., Bergmann, M., Schulze, M. B., Overvad, K., van der Schouw, Y. T., Spencer, E., Moons, K. G. M., Tjønneland, A., et al. (2008) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa0801891 · Cited by 2,155
Analysing controlled trials with baseline and follow up measurements
Vickers, A. J., & Altman, D. G. (2001) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7321.1123 · Cited by 2,116
Waist circumference as a measure for indicating need for weight management
Lean, M. E. J., Han, T. S., & Morrison, C. E. (1995) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.311.6998.158 · Cited by 1,869
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Inflammation in obesity, diabetes, and related disorders
Rohm, T. V., Meier, D. T., Olefsky, J. M., & Donath, M. Y. (2022) · Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2021.12.013 · Cited by 2,066
Muscle–Organ Crosstalk: The Emerging Roles of Myokines
Severinsen, M. C. K., & Pedersen, B. K. (2020) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/endrev/bnaa016 · Cited by 1,226
“Exercise training will lead to a decrease in visceral and cardiac fat mass (136, 138, 221) and hence a decrease in circulating inflammatory molecules via a mechanism that involves exercise-induced increase in IL-6 (136), as described above.”
BackgroundMethodExerkines in health, resilience and disease
Chow, L. S., Gerszten, R. E., Taylor, J. M., Pedersen, B. K., van Praag, H., Trappe, S., Febbraio, M. A., Galis, Z. S., Gao, Y., Haus, J. M., et al. (2022) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/s41574-022-00641-2 · Cited by 927
Exercise-induced immune system response: Anti-inflammatory status on peripheral and central organs
Scheffer, D. D. L., & Latini, A. (2020) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2020.165823 · Cited by 543
Exercise and metabolic health: beyond skeletal muscle
Thyfault, J. P., & Bergouignan, A. (2020) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-020-05177-6 · Cited by 455
Metadata
- Authors
- Wedell-Neergaard, A.-S., Lang Lehrskov, L., Christensen, R. H., Legaard, G. E., Dorph, E., Larsen, M. K., Launbo, N., Fagerlind, S. R., Seide, S. K., Nymand, S., Ball, M., Vinum, N., Dahl, C. N., Henneberg, M., Ried-Larsen, M., Nybing, J. D., Christensen, R., Rosenmeier, J. B., Karstoft, K., Pedersen, B. K., Ellingsgaard, H., & Krogh-Madsen, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Bispebjerg Hospital (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Ellingsgaard, Helga
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 844-855.e3
- ISSN
- 1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2906928401
- Cited by
- 403
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 33
- FWCI
- 26.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Danish Diabetes Academy
- TrygFonden
- Novo Nordisk Fonden
- Oak Foundation (OCAY-13-309)
- Hjerteforeningen (16-R107-A6704-22970)
- Strategiske Forskningsråd (09-067009, 09-075724)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Keywords
- visceral adipose tissue, interleukin-6, exercise training, tocilizumab, IL-6 receptor inhibition, abdominal obesity, lipolysis, skeletal muscle, cholesterol, body weight, lean body mass, adipose tissue mass
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Signal Transduction, Exercise, Interleukin-6, Intra-Abdominal Fat
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
