Why fat makes your body ignore insulin
Endothelial insulin resistance induced by adrenomedullin mediates obesity-associated diabetes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A chemical called adrenomedullin, which goes up when you're obese, blocks insulin's signal in blood vessels. This stops blood flow from increasing when insulin is present, so muscles don't get enough fuel. Removing this block helps insulin work better.
Surprising Findings
Adrenomedullin alone can induce insulin resistance without obesity.
Common belief is that obesity must be present to trigger insulin resistance—this study shows the chemical itself is sufficient to cause the same metabolic damage.
Practical Takeaways
No direct action can be taken yet—this is preclinical research.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A chemical called adrenomedullin, which goes up when you're obese, blocks insulin's signal in blood vessels. This stops blood flow from increasing when insulin is present, so muscles don't get enough fuel. Removing this block helps insulin work better.
Surprising Findings
Adrenomedullin alone can induce insulin resistance without obesity.
Common belief is that obesity must be present to trigger insulin resistance—this study shows the chemical itself is sufficient to cause the same metabolic damage.
Practical Takeaways
No direct action can be taken yet—this is preclinical research.
Publication
Journal
Science
Year
2025
Authors
Haaglim Cho, C. Lai, R. Bonnavion, Mohammad Wessam Alnouri, Shengpeng Wang, Kenneth Anthony Roquid, H. Kawase, D. Campos, Min Chen, Lee S. Weinstein, Alfredo Martínez, Mario Looso, Miloslav Sanda, S. Offermanns
Related Content
Claims (5)
When people or mice are obese, they have more of a substance called adrenomedullin in their blood, and this might stop their blood vessels from responding properly to insulin, which could be one reason why obesity leads to insulin problems in blood vessels.
In mice that are overweight, turning off a specific receptor in their blood vessels helps their muscles get more blood when insulin is present, which might mean blocking this receptor could help the body respond better to insulin.
Giving a specific hormone called adrenomedullin to mice makes their bodies less able to use insulin properly—just like what happens in obesity—even though the mice don’t gain weight. This suggests the hormone alone might cause the problem.
When insulin is present, it helps blood vessels in muscles relax, letting more blood flow in. This brings more creatine to the muscle surface, where it can be absorbed.
When scientists block a specific protein in the blood vessels of overweight mice, their bodies get better at using insulin — which might mean we could one day treat type 2 diabetes in obese people by targeting the same protein.