Brain insulin sensitivity is linked to adiposity and body fat distribution
Open accessAbstract
Brain insulin action regulates eating behavior and energy fluxes throughout the body. However, numerous people are brain insulin resistant. How brain insulin responsiveness affects long-term weight and body fat composition in humans is still unknown. Here we show that high brain insulin sensitivity before lifestyle intervention associates with a more pronounced reduction in total and visceral fat during the program. High brain insulin sensitivity is also associated with less regain of fat mass during a nine year follow-up. Cross-sectionally, strong insulin responsiveness of the hypothalamus associates with less visceral fat, while subcutaneous fat is unrelated. Our results demonstrate that high brain insulin sensitivity is linked to weight loss during lifestyle intervention and associates with a favorable body fat distribution. Since visceral fat is strongly linked to diabetes, cardiovascular risk and cancer, these findings have implications beyond metabolic diseases and indicate the necessity of strategies to resolve brain insulin resistance.
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Individuals with brain insulin resistance are predisposed for subsequent weight gain and visceral fat accumulation.
“These individuals are predisposed for subsequent weight gain and visceral fat accumulation18.”
From Brain insulin action on peripheral insulin sensitivity in women depends on menstrual cycle phase (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
The Discussion reports that low brain insulin sensitivity was linked to regain of body weight and visceral fat during the nine years after a lifestyle intervention. This supports an association, but the claim omits the post-intervention setting and describes subsequent weight gain more broadly than the study establishes. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 37 · Cited by 134
- Authors
- Kullmann, S., Valenta, V., Wagner, R., Tschritter, O., Machann, J., Häring, H.-U., Preissl, H., Fritsche, A., & Heni, M.
- Affiliations
- Helmholtz Munich (DE)
- Marienhospital Stuttgart (DE)
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Heni, Martin
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2020-04-15
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1841-1841
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7160151
- OpenAlex
- W3017215630
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 10
- FWCI
- 10.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Site cant be reached (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to the German Centre for Diabetes Research
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Keywords
- brain insulin resistance, hypothalamus, visceral fat, subcutaneous adipose tissue, body fat distribution, adiposity, weight loss, lifestyle intervention, weight regain, dietary habits, energy homeostasis
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Body Composition, Brain, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Insulin Resistance, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Intra-Abdominal Fat, Adiposity
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