ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism2019
Intermuscular adipose tissue directly modulates skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity in humans.
Article in American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
125 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 177 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise with or without a hypocaloric diet on intermuscular and intramuscular fat: a systematic review.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of the gut microbiota in older people with and without sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- The Effect of High-Fat Diet on Intramyocellular Lipid Content in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.The Journal of nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Multiparameter MRI assessment of metformin and exercise effects on skeletal muscle in prediabetes: a randomized controlled trial.European radiology experimental · 2025Trial
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- Small-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial to Explore the Impact of β-Hydroxy-β-Methylbutyrate Plus Vitamin DNutrients · 2022Trial
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- Myosteatosis in adolescents and young adults treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Leukemia & lymphoma · 2019Trial
- Single-Nucleus Atlas of Spinal Sarcopenia Patients Reveals Disruption of Quiescent and Regenerative Satellite Cell Niches in Fatty-Infiltrated Muscle.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Myosteatosis and Dyslipidemia: Linking Muscle Quality to Cardiometabolic Risk.Journal of lipid and atherosclerosis · 2026Review
- Prognostic role of myosteatosis in predicting MACE and mortality after TAVR: insights from CT-based body composition analysis.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2026Article
- Spatial transcriptomics maps distinct signatures of human intermuscular adipose expansion in mice.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Comparative effects of exercise modalities on ectopic fat reduction in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a narrative review.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Review
- Impact of obesity and an obesogenic environment on cardiotoxin-induced damage and recovery of human myotubes.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia and body temperature-the significance of interorgan metabolic networks in skeletal muscle atrophy.Endocrine journal · 2026Review
- Traditional Chinese Medicine for Diabetic Sarcopenia: A Review and Its Related Mechanisms.Journal of diabetes research · 2026Review
- Spatial-Bioenergetic-Immune Axis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus-Associated Sarcopenia: A Review from Pathogenesis to Targeted Reconstruction.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Intramuscular Fat as a Biomarker of Muscle Health: Strengths, Limitations and Open Challenges.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Review
- Metabolic Syndrome Modifies Changes in Body Composition After Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Quantitative CT Study.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2026Article
- Effects of 12 weeks resistance training on muscle quality and physical performance in normal-weight and obese older women.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) is negatively related to insulin sensitivity, but a causal role of IMAT in the development of insulin resistance is unknown. IMAT was sampled in humans to test for the ability to induce insulin resistance in vitro and characterize gene expression to uncover how IMAT may promote skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Human primary muscle cells were incubated with conditioned media from IMAT, visceral (VAT), or subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) to evaluate changes in insulin sensitivity. RNAseq analysis was performed on IMAT with gene expression compared with skeletal muscle and SAT, and relationships to insulin sensitivity were determined in men and women spanning a wide range of insulin sensitivity measured by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Conditioned media from IMAT and VAT decreased insulin sensitivity similarly compared with SAT. Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed distinct gene expression patterns in IMAT compared with SAT and muscle. Pathway analysis revealed that IMAT expression of genes in insulin signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, and peroxisomal metabolism related positively to donor insulin sensitivity, whereas expression of macrophage markers, inflammatory cytokines, and secreted extracellular matrix proteins were negatively related to insulin sensitivity. Perilipin 5 gene expression suggested greater IMAT lipolysis in insulin-resistant individuals. Combined, these data show that factors secreted from IMAT modulate muscle insulin sensitivity, possibly via secretion of inflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix proteins, and by increasing local FFA concentration in humans. These data suggest IMAT may be an important regulator of skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity and could be a novel therapeutic target for skeletal muscle insulin resistance.
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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.