Myokine-mediated muscle-organ interactions: Molecular mechanisms and clinical significance.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic models and theory without primary human trial data or systematic review methodology.
PubMed 40957493 · doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2025.117326
What was done
This narrative review synthesizes literature on skeletal muscle endocrine signaling and proposes the "Myokine-mediated Multi-organ Metabolic Network" theoretical framework. It outlines contraction-induced autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine pathways connecting skeletal muscle to various target organs across six biological axes.
What was found
The abstract reports no empirical numbers, effect sizes, or quantitative data. It presents a conceptual summary describing myokines as pleiotropic modulators that regulate energy substrate flux, mitochondrial biogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, neuroplasticity, blood-brain barrier homeostasis, gut microbiota modulation, vascular endothelial function, and immunometabolic reprogramming.
Why it matters
It provides an integrative theoretical model for exercise-induced multi-organ communication, identifying potential avenues for developing targeted exercise-mimetic molecules for metabolic, neurodegenerative, and neoplastic diseases.
Limits
As a narrative review, it introduces no new empirical human data and does not employ systematic review methods. Quantitative effect sizes are not reported in the abstract, and the therapeutic applications described remain mechanistic and theoretical rather than clinically verified.
Cited by
- supports Muscle tissue functions as an endocrine gland by secreting chemicals that regulate metabolism and positively influence brain health.