Quercetin Protects against Obesity-Induced Skeletal Muscle Inflammation and Atrophy

Figure 5

Schematic representation of the effect of quercetin on obesity-induced skeletal muscle inflammation and muscle atrophy. Obesity leads to infiltration of macrophages and increases FFA in skeletal muscle. Macrophages release inflammatory cytokines and/or directly contact muscle cells, leading to activation of inflammatory signaling pathways, which are also induced by binding of FFA to TLRs. The inflammatory signaling pathway induces expression of atrogenes. This leads to loss of muscle mass, and these changes ultimately contribute to local and systemic insulin resistance. Quercetin inhibits macrophage infiltration and activation of inflammatory pathways, leading to diminished expression of atrophic genes.