Mechanisms Linking Inflammation to Insulin Resistance

Figure 1

Influence of the inflammatory cytokines on the status of insulin resistance. TNF-α causes insulin resistance by enhancing adipocyte lipolysis stimulating JNK and IKKβ/NF-κB pathway which may increase serine/threonine phosphorylation of IRS1. IL-6 induces IR by reducing the expression of GLUT4 and IRS-1 by activating the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and increasing SOCS3 expression, and IL-6 can also lead to IR in skeletal muscle by inducing TLR-4 gene expression through activation of STAT3; besides, TLR4 is suggested to be major upstream molecules in the activation of NF-κB. Besides, IL-6 is also found to induce IR by impairing the synthesis of glycogen through downregulating the expression of miR-200s and upregulating that of FOG-2.