ArticleCell research2017
Intermittent fasting promotes adipose thermogenesis and metabolic homeostasis via VEGF-mediated alternative activation of macrophage.
Article in Cell research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 123 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
123 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 213 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intermittent Fasting versus Continuous Calorie Restriction: Which Is Better for Weight Loss?Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of Epidemic Intermittent Fasting on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Intermittent versus continuous energy restriction on weight loss and cardiometabolic outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of translational medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Human fasting modulates macrophage function and upregulates multiple bioactive metabolites that extend lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans: a pilot clinical study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Trial
- Intermittent fasting promotes remodeling of neural and vascular networks in visceral white adipose tissue.iScience · 2026Article
- Time-restricted feeding improves functional capacity of adipose-derived stem cells with activation of OSK-associated transcriptional programs.npj aging · 2026Article
- Dapagliflozin-intermittent fasting combination maximizes weight and metabolic regulation through AMPK/sirtuins/clock genes and gut microbiota signaling in high-fat diet-induced obesity: a novel anti-obesity approach.Cell & bioscience · 2026Article
- Time-restricted feeding improves metabolic flexibility, promotes beiging, and mitigates fibro-inflammation in the adipose tissue of aged mice.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Homoharringtonine exhibits senotherapeutic activity that mitigates diet- and age-associated obesity and insulin resistance and extends lifespan in mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Ginseng Promotes White Adipose Tissue Browning: A Network of Thermogenic Pathways and Gut Microbiota Modulation.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Daily intermittent fasting is an effective multiscale treatment in preclinical models of absence epilepsy.Epilepsia · 2026Article
- Review
- Review
- Periodic fasting and refeeding re-shapes lipid saturation, storage, and distribution in brown adipose tissue.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- The 5:2 diet induces male-specific weight loss and sex-independent enhancement of lipid storage in mice via activation of GHSR.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Single-cell-resolved transcriptional dynamics of human subcutaneous adipose tissue during lifestyle- and bariatric surgery-induced weight loss.Nature metabolism · 2026Article
- Genome-wide Association Studies of the Pathogenic Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Gene in Ulcerative ColitisEndocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2026Article
- Machine learning screening for disulfidptosis genes-associated immunosuppression status in osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.Translational cancer research · 2025Article
- Review
- Alternate-day fasting ameliorates α-synuclein pathology and suppresses inflammation via the gut-brain axis in an MPTP-induced subacute mouse model of Parkinson's disease.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Intermittent fasting (IF), a periodic energy restriction, has been shown to provide health benefits equivalent to prolonged fasting or caloric restriction. However, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of IF-mediated metabolic benefits is limited. Here we show that isocaloric IF improves metabolic homeostasis against diet-induced obesity and metabolic dysfunction primarily through adipose thermogenesis in mice. IF-induced metabolic benefits require fasting-mediated increases of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in white adipose tissue (WAT). Furthermore, periodic adipose-VEGF overexpression could recapitulate the metabolic improvement of IF in non-fasted animals. Importantly, fasting and adipose-VEGF induce alternative activation of adipose macrophage, which is critical for thermogenesis. Human adipose gene analysis further revealed a positive correlation of adipose VEGF-M2 macrophage-WAT browning axis. The present study uncovers the molecular mechanism of IF-mediated metabolic benefit and suggests that isocaloric IF can be a preventive and therapeutic approach against obesity and metabolic disorders.
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Registered trials
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.