Mitochondrial Stress and Mitokines: Therapeutic Perspectives for the Treatment of Metabolic Diseases.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic literature without systematic search methodology or original clinical data.
PubMed 38173375 · doi:10.4093/dmj.2023.0115
What was done
This is a narrative review summarizing literature on mitochondrial stress, the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt), and mitokine signaling. The authors synthesize mechanistic and physiological roles of key mitokines, specifically fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), focusing on their regulation by exercise and lifestyle interventions and their actions in inter-organ metabolic communication.
What was found
The abstract describes general mechanistic pathways and regulatory roles without reporting quantitative data, specific study counts, or statistical results. It outlines that mitokines act as endocrine mediators of inter-tissue communication to influence systemic metabolic homeostasis in response to mitochondrial stress and lifestyle interventions.
Why it matters
Clarifying how mitokines coordinate inter-organ metabolic responses may help identify potential therapeutic targets and lifestyle interventions for managing metabolic diseases.
Limits
This is a narrative review lacking a systematic search protocol, risk-of-bias evaluation, and quantitative synthesis. The abstract presents conceptual mechanisms without primary human or clinical outcome data.