Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35210610›Full record

ReviewNature metabolism2022

Interleukin 6 as an energy allocator in muscle tissue.

Timothy M Kistner, Bente K Pedersen, Daniel E Lieberman

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature metabolism, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 157 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
157citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
25.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

157 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 262 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Circulating Myokine Responses to Acute Endurance Exercise and Their Role in Immunoregulation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
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97 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Timothy M KistnerDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. tkistner@g.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4606-9743
Bente K PedersenCentre of Inflammation and Metabolism/Centre for Physical Activity Research (CIM/CFAS), Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Bente.Klarlund.Pedersen@regionh.dk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6508-6288
Daniel E LiebermanDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. danlieb@fas.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6194-9127
Harvard University · USUniversity of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Extensive research has shown that interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional molecule that is both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory, depending on the context. Here, we combine an evolutionary perspective with physiological data to propose that IL-6's context-dependent effects on metabolism reflect its adaptive role for short-term energy allocation. This energy-allocation role is especially salient during physical activity, when skeletal muscle releases large amounts of IL-6. We predict that during bouts of physical activity, myokine IL-6 fulfills the three main characteristics of a short-term energy allocator: it is secreted from muscle in response to an energy deficit, it liberates somatic energy through lipolysis and it enhances muscular energy uptake and transiently downregulates immune function. We then extend this model of energy allocation beyond myokine IL-6 to reinterpret the roles that IL-6 plays in chronic inflammation, as well as during COVID-19-associated hyperinflammation and multiorgan failure.

Indexed as

COVID-19Interleukin-6ExerciseHumansMuscle, SkeletalSARS-CoV-2Interleukin-6

Identifiers

PMID35210610
OpenAlexW4213414654

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.