ArticleMolecular metabolism2015
Fibroblast growth factor 21 is elevated in metabolically unhealthy obesity and affects lipid deposition, adipogenesis, and adipokine secretion of human abdominal subcutaneous adipocytes.
Article in Molecular metabolism, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of acute exercise on immediate and following early post-exercise FGF-21 concentration in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2021Pooled it
- Proteomic Profile After Intervention With Eplerenone Among Persons With HIV.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Trial
- Liver Fat Is Associated With Elevated FGF21 in Youth With Obesity but Without MASLD.Pediatric obesity · 2026Article
- The Adipokine Hypothesis of Heart Failure With a Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Novel Framework to Explain Pathogenesis and Guide Treatment.Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2025Review
- Hepatic ENTPD5 Is Critical for Maintaining Metabolic Homeostasis and Promoting Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Circulating fibroblast growth factor 21 and growth differentiation factor 15 are associated with severity of hepatic steatosis in people with HIV.HIV medicine · 2025Article
- A comparison of brown fat tissue related hormone levels in metabolically healthy and unhealthy individuals with obesity.Endocrine · 2024Article
- FGF21 and its underlying adipose tissue-liver axis inform cardiometabolic burden and improvement in obesity after metabolic surgery.EBioMedicine · 2024Article
- Connecting the Dots: FGF21 as a Potential Link between Obesity and Cardiovascular Health in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Friend or foe for obesity: How hepatokines remodel adipose tissues and translational perspective.Genes & diseases · 2023Review
- Associations of Circulating Irisin and Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 Levels with Measures of Energy Homeostasis in Highly Trained Adolescent Rhythmic Gymnasts.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Associations between RNA-Binding Motif Protein 3, Fibroblast Growth Factor 21, and Clinical Outcome in Patients with Stroke.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Curcumin and Weight Loss: Does It Work?International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in HIV/HBV Patients - a Metabolic Imbalance Aggravated by Antiretroviral Therapy and Perpetuated by the Hepatokine/Adipokine Axis Breakdown.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Association Between Serum Afamin Levels with Nonalcoholic Associated Fatty Liver Disease.Canadian journal of gastroenterology & hepatology · 2022Article
- Article
- The Nuanced Metabolic Functions of Endogenous FGF21 Depend on the Nature of the Stimulus, Tissue Source, and Experimental Model.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Review
- FGF21 serum levels are related to insulin resistance, metabolic changes and obesity in Mexican people living with HIV (PLWH).PloS one · 2021Article
- Activated brown adipose tissue and its relationship to adiposity and metabolic markers: an exploratory study.Adipocyte · 2020Article
- FGF21 induces autophagy-mediated cholesterol efflux to inhibit atherogenesis via RACK1 up-regulation.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSerum concentrations of the hepatokine fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 are elevated in obesity, type-2 diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome. We asked whether FGF21 levels differ between subjects with metabolically healthy vs. unhealthy obesity (MHO vs. MUHO), opening the possibility that FGF21 is a cross-talker between liver and adipose tissue in MUHO. Furthermore, we studied the effects of chronic FGF21 treatment on adipocyte differentiation, lipid storage, and adipokine secretion.
methodsIn 20 morbidly obese donors of abdominal subcutaneous fat biopsies discordant for their whole-body insulin sensitivity (hereby classified as MHO or MUHO subjects), serum FGF21 was quantified. The impact of chronic FGF21 treatment on differentiation, lipid accumulation, and adipokine release was assessed in isolated preadipocytes differentiated in vitro.
resultsSerum FGF21 concentrations were more than two-fold higher in MUHO as compared to MHO subjects (457 ± 378 vs. 211 ± 123 pg/mL; p < 0.05). FGF21 treatment of human preadipocytes for the entire differentiation period was modestly lipogenic (+15%; p < 0.05), reduced the expression of key adipogenic transcription factors (PPARG and CEBPA, -15% and -40%, respectively; p < 0.01 both), reduced adiponectin expression (-20%; p < 0.05), markedly reduced adiponectin release (-60%; p < 0.01), and substantially increased leptin (+60%; p < 0.01) and interleukin-6 (+50%; p < 0.001) release.
conclusionsThe hepatokine FGF21 exerts weak lipogenic and anti-adipogenic actions and marked adiponectin-suppressive and leptin and interleukin-6 release-promoting effects in human differentiating preadipocytes. Together with the higher serum concentrations in MUHO subjects, our findings reveal FGF21 as a circulating factor promoting the development of metabolically unhealthy adipocytes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.