Cited by 218Adipose Tissue and MetabolismCardiovascular and exercise physiologyMitochondrial Function and Pathology

Mitochondrial capacity in skeletal muscle is not stimulated by weight loss despite increases in insulin action and decreases in intramyocellular lipid content

Open access
Toledo, Frederico G.S., Menshikova, Elizabeth V., Azuma, Koichiro, Radiková, Zofia, Kelley, Carol A., Ritov, Vladimir B., Kelley, David E.·2008·Diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE— In obesity and type 2 diabetes, exercise combined with weight loss increases skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity. It remains unclear whether mitochondrial capacity increases because of weight loss, improvements in insulin resistance, or physical training. In this study, we examined the effects of an intervention of weight loss induced by diet and compared these with those of a similar intervention of weight loss by diet with exercise. Both are known to improve insulin resistance, and we tested the hypothesis that physical activity, rather than improved insulin resistance, is required to increase mitochondrial capacity of muscle. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— Sixteen sedentary overweight/obese volunteers were randomized to a 16-week intervention of diet (n = 7) or diet plus exercise (n = 9). Insulin sensitivity was measured using euglycemic clamps. Mitochondria were examined in muscle biopsies before and after intervention. We measured mitochondrial content and size by electron microscopy, electron transport chain (ETC) activity, cardiolipin content, and mitochondrial DNA content. Intramyocellular content of lipid (IMCL) and fiber-type distribution were determined by histology. RESULTS— The diet-only and diet plus exercise groups achieved similar weight loss (10.8 and 9.2%, respectively); only the diet plus exercise group improved aerobic capacity. Insulin sensitivity improved similarly in both groups. Mitochondrial content and ETC activity increased following the diet plus exercise intervention but remained unchanged following the diet-only intervention, and mitochondrial size decreased with weight loss despite improvement in insulin resistance. IMCL decreased in the diet-only but not in the diet plus exercise intervention. CONCLUSIONS— Despite similar effects to improve insulin resistance, these interventions had differential effects on mitochondria. Clinically significant weight loss in the absence of increased physical activity ameliorates insulin resistance and IMCL but does not increase muscle mitochondrial capacity in obesity.

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 · 10.2337/db07-1429

Cites

36 of 36 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?

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
Toledo, F. G. S., Menshikova, E. V., Azuma, K., Radiková, Z., Kelley, C. A., Ritov, V. B., & Kelley, D. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
  • From the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Venue
Diabetes
Published
2008-04-01
Volume
57
Issue
4
Pages
987-994
ISSN
  • 0012-1797 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-327X
OpenAlex
W2110869852
Cited by
218
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 14
FWCI
16.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Diabetes (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • American Diabetes Association
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Slovenská Akadémia Vied
  • National Institutes of Health (DK49200)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30-DK-462, DK-49200-08, R01DK049200)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR000056, 5 M01 RR00056)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
Keywords
weight loss, diet-induced weight loss, exercise training, insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity, intramyocellular lipid, mitochondrial size, cardiolipin, mitochondrial DNA content, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiorespiratory fitness, fiber type distribution
MeSH terms
Cardiolipins, Diet, Reducing, DNA, Mitochondrial, Glucose Tolerance Test, Humans, Insulin, Life Style, Lipids, Microscopy, Electron, Mitochondria, Muscle, Obesity, Oxygen Consumption, Weight Loss, Exercise, Muscle, Skeletal, Overweight

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