Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36671031›Full record

ArticleAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)2023

Bilirubin Levels Are Negatively Correlated with Adiposity in Obese Men and Women, and Its Catabolized Product, Urobilin, Is Positively Associated with Insulin Resistance.

Zachary A Kipp, Mei Xu, Evelyn A Bates, Wang-Hsin Lee, Philip A Kern, Terry D Hinds

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

40 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Disrupted terminal bilirubin catabolism linksFrontiers in microbiology · 2026
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Observational
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Insulin receptor responsiveness governs TGFβ-induced hepatic stellate cell activation: Insulin resistance instigates liver fibrosis.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Article
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

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Zachary A KippDepartment of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, 760 Press Avenue, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7344-7469
Mei XuDepartment of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, 760 Press Avenue, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.
Evelyn A BatesDepartment of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, 760 Press Avenue, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4157-2481
Wang-Hsin LeeDepartment of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, 760 Press Avenue, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.
Philip A KernDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.
Terry D HindsDepartment of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, 760 Press Avenue, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.
University of Kentucky · US

Funding

Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational ScienceUL1TR001998 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · PI HARTMANN, KATHERINE E, KERN, PHILIP A · 2016 to 2025
$34.2M
Novel Liver Signaling Pathways Controlling AdiposityR01DK121797 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO HEALTH SCI CAMPUS · PI HINDS, TERRY D · 2020 to 2024
$2.2M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001998NIDDK NIH HHS R01 DK121797NIDDK NIH HHS R01DK121797NIH HHS UL1TR001998
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bilirubin levels in obese humans and rodents have been shown to be lower than in their lean counterparts. Some studies have proposed that the glucuronyl UGT1A1 enzyme that clears bilirubin from the blood increases in the liver with obesity. UGT1A1 clearance of bilirubin allows more conjugated bilirubin to enter the intestine, where it is catabolized into urobilin, which can be then absorbed via the hepatic portal vein. We hypothesized that when bilirubin levels are decreased, the urobilin increases in the plasma of obese humans, as compared to lean humans. To test this, we measured plasma levels of bilirubin and urobilin, body mass index (BMI), adiposity, blood glucose and insulin, and HOMA IR in a small cohort of obese and lean men and women. We found that bilirubin levels negatively correlated with BMI and adiposity in obese men and women, as compared to their lean counterparts. Contrarily, urobilin levels were positively associated with adiposity and BMI. Only obese women were found to be insulin resistant based on significantly higher HOMA IR, as compared to lean women. The urobilin levels were positively associated with HOMA IR in both groups, but women had a stronger linear correlation. These studies indicate that plasma urobilin levels are associated with obesity and its comorbidities, such as insulin resistance.

Indexed as

bilirubinblood glucoseBMIBVRAHO-1HOMA IRinsulin resistanceobesityUGT1A1urobilin

Identifiers

PMID36671031
PMCPMC9854555
OpenAlexW4315567686

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.