ArticleMolecular metabolism2020
Prolonged fasting drives a program of metabolic inflammation in human adipose tissue.
Article in Molecular metabolism, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changes in plasma cytokines following a 60-h fast are not influenced by the addition of exercise despite elevated ketones in healthy young adults.Physiological reports · 2025Trial
- Lysosomes and lysosomal dysfunction in ageing biology.Nature cell biology · 2026Review
- NodoMap: A single-cell and spatial transcriptomic atlas of the mouse nodose ganglion.Cell press blue · 2026Article
- Investigating fasting for metabolic health and longevity.Biogerontology · 2026Review
- A Very-low-energy Fast Involves Increased Adipose Inflammatory Gene Expression: A 6-day Feeding Trial (FASTOMICS-6).The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- TNF/TNFR1 is a Key Regulator of Prolonged Fasting-Induced Decrease in Adipose Tissue.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Article
- Immunometabolism in obesity: Understanding the beneficial and detrimental roles of inflammation.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- A Critical Assessment of Fasting to Promote Metabolic Health and Longevity.Endocrine reviews · 2025Review
- Adipose immune microenvironment: catalyst of age-related adipose tissue dysfunction.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2025Review
- Prolonged Water-Only Fasting Followed by a Whole-Plant-Food Diet Promotes Fat-Free Mass Recovery and Continued Fat Mass Loss in Adults With Overweight or Obesity.Obesity science & practice · 2025Article
- Metabolic and hormonal effects of an 8 days water only fasting combined with exercise in middle aged men.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exercise-Stimulated Resolvin Biosynthesis in the Adipose Tissue Is Abrogated by High-Fat Diet-Induced Adrenergic Deficiency.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2025Article
- Prolonged fasting promotes systemic inflammation and platelet activation in humans: A medically supervised, water-only fasting and refeeding study.Molecular metabolism · 2025Article
- Mechanisms of Lipid-Associated Macrophage Accrual in Metabolically Stressed Adipose Tissue.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Non-canonical lysosomal lipolysis drives mobilization of adipose tissue energy stores with fasting.Nature communications · 2025Article
- From meal to malfunction: exploring molecular pathways, biomarkers and interventions in postprandial cardiometabolic health.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Effect of Preoperative 2-Hour Carbohydrate Load on Pediatric Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Study.Anesthesiology research and practice · 2025Article
- Altered metabolomics and inflammatory transcriptomics in human bone marrow adipocytes after acute high calorie diet and acute fasting.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Effects of time-restricted feeding (TRF)-model of intermittent fasting on adipose organ: a narrative review.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2024Review
- Nanoscale imaging of DNA-RNA identifies transcriptional plasticity at heterochromatin.Life science alliance · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe human adaptive fasting response enables survival during periods of caloric deprivation. A crucial component of the fasting response is the shift from glucose metabolism to utilization of lipids, underscoring the importance of adipose tissue as the central lipid-storing organ. The objective of this study was to investigate the response of adipose tissue to a prolonged fast in humans.
methodsWe performed RNA sequencing of subcutaneous adipose tissue samples longitudinally collected during a 10-day, 0-calorie fast in humans. We further investigated observed transcriptional signatures utilizing cultured human monocytes and Thp1 cells. We examined the cellularity of adipose tissue biopsies with transmission electron microscopy and tested for associated changes in relevant inflammatory mediators in the systemic circulation by ELISA assays of longitudinally collected blood samples.
resultsCoincident with the expected shift away from glucose utilization and lipid storage, we demonstrated downregulation of pathways related to glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, and lipogenesis. The canonical lipolysis pathway was also downregulated, whereas fasting drove alternative lysosomal paths to lipid digestion. Unexpectedly, the dominant induced pathways were associated with immunity and inflammation, although this only became evident at the 10-day time point. Among the most augmented transcripts were those associated with macrophage identity and function, such as members of the erythroblast transformation-specific (ETS) transcription factor family. Key components of the macrophage transcriptional signal in fasting adipose tissue were recapitulated with induced expression of two of the ETS transcription factors via cultured macrophages, SPIC and SPI1. The inflammatory signal was further reflected by an increase in systemic inflammatory mediators.
conclusionsCollectively, this study demonstrates an unexpected role of metabolic inflammation in the human adaptive fasting response.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.