Leal · Frontiers in physiology 2018 · narrative review · n=?

Physical Exercise-Induced Myokines and Muscle-Adipose Tissue Crosstalk: A Review of Current Knowledge and the Implications for Health and Metabolic Diseases.

Cited 378 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic literature without primary data or systematic search methodology

PubMed 30319436 · doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01307 · record verified 2026-08-28

What was done

This is a narrative review examining literature on exercise-induced myokines (such as IL-6, IL-10, IL-1ra, IL-15, irisin, and myostatin) and their role in mediating biochemical crosstalk between skeletal muscle and adipose tissue in health and metabolic diseases.

What was found

The abstract reports no numerical findings or statistical effect sizes. It qualitatively describes that skeletal muscle contraction releases myokines that mediate anti-inflammatory and pleiotropic health benefits, physical inactivity impairs this response while promoting pro-inflammatory adipokines, and key myokines (IL-6, IL-15, irisin, and myostatin) mediate muscle-adipose communication and adipose tissue browning.

Why it matters

This review outlines the molecular communication network between muscle and adipose tissue, clarifying biological mechanisms through which regular exercise counteracts chronic metabolic and inflammatory diseases.

Limits

This is an unsystematic narrative overview providing no primary human data, sample sizes, or quantitative meta-analytic estimates. The abstract does not report search methodology, study quality criteria, or specific population characteristics.

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