Exercise-induced myokines in metabolic regulation: mechanisms, mimetics, and translational potential.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of mechanisms and translational potential without systematic review methodology
PubMed 42315824 · doi:10.1007/s12272-026-01624-x
What was done
This narrative review synthesized literature on exercise-induced myokines (including IL-6, irisin, myostatin, GDF11, IL-15, BDNF, METRNL, SPARC, FGF21, BAIBA, LIF, apelin, and musclin) and their actions across skeletal muscle, liver, adipose tissue, and bone. The authors also reviewed natural and synthetic compounds reported to modulate myokine expression, secretion, or downstream activity.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings or effect sizes. It qualitatively describes myokines as dynamic regulators of glucose and lipid metabolism, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and interorgan communication, while highlighting substantial heterogeneity in causal evidence, target receptor certainty, and translational readiness across different myokine pathways.
Why it matters
The review offers an updated, critical categorization of established versus emerging myokines and their pharmacological mimetics, cautioning against overgeneralizing preclinical metabolic mechanisms to human therapeutic applications.
Limits
The abstract describes a narrative review rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis; no search strategy, study inclusion numbers, or risk-of-bias assessments are reported. Findings rely heavily on mechanistic and preclinical models where direct human causality and target validation remain unconfirmed.
Cited by
- supports Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is produced in both skeletal muscle and the brain.