Melatonin reduces intramuscular fat deposition by promoting lipolysis and increasing mitochondrial function
Open accessAbstract
In obesity and diabetes, intramuscular fat (IMF) content correlates markedly with insulin sensitivity, which makes IMF manipulation an area of therapeutic interest. Melatonin, an important circadian rhythm-regulating hormone, reportedly regulates fat deposition, but its effects on different types of adipose vary. Little is known about the role of melatonin in IMF deposition. Here, using intramuscular preadipocytes in pigs, we investigated to determine whether melatonin affects or regulates IMF deposition. We found that melatonin greatly inhibited porcine intramuscular preadipocyte proliferation. Although melatonin administration significantly upregulated the expression of adipogenic genes, smaller lipid droplets were formed in intramuscular adipocytes. Additional investigation demonstrated that melatonin promoted lipolysis of IMF by activating protein kinase A and the signaling of ERK1/2. Moreover, melatonin increased thermogenesis in intramuscular adipocytes by enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial respiration. A mouse model, in which untreated controls were compared with mice that received 3 weeks of melatonin treatment, verified the effect of melatonin on IMF deposition. In conclusion, melatonin reduces IMF deposition by upregulating lipolysis and mitochondrial bioactivities. These data establish a link between melatonin signaling and lipid metabolism in mammalian models and suggest the potential for melatonin administration to treat or prevent obesity and related diseases.
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Different animal studies emphasize the beneficial effects of melatonin in obesity management.
“Different animal studies emphasize the beneficial effects of melatonin in the obesity management. 13-17”
From Melatonin supplementation improves glycemic hemostasis, lipid profile, and adipokine concentrations of obese women: A double-blind randomized clinical trial (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
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“10,12,14 Strengths and limitations of the study An important strength of the present work was the small omission rate, and great admission rate of the subjects to the supplements in both arms, considering possible confounders and using individualized dietary plans for weight reduction as an…”
- Authors
- Liu, K., Yu, W., Wei, W., Zhang, X., Tian, Y., Sherif, M., Liu, X., Dong, C., Wu, W., Zhang, L., & Chen, J.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Agricultural University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Jie
- Venue
- Journal of Lipid Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 767-782
- ISSN
- 0022-2275 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6446696
- OpenAlex
- W2904439161
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 6.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Lipid Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31872334)
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20160727)
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ201639)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis
- Keywords
- melatonin, intramuscular fat deposition, lipolysis, mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial respiration, intramuscular preadipocytes, adipocyte proliferation, adipogenic gene expression, protein kinase A, ERK signaling, thermogenesis, lipid metabolism, obesity, insulin sensitivity, circadian rhythm
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Antioxidants, Cell Differentiation, Fats, Lipolysis, Male, Melatonin, Mitochondria, Swine, Apoptosis, Muscle, Skeletal, Cell Proliferation
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