ArticleDiabetes2011
Skeletal muscle triglycerides, diacylglycerols, and ceramides in insulin resistance: another paradox in endurance-trained athletes?
Article in Diabetes, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 217 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Intramyocellular Lipid Compartments After Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonist Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes - Rebalancing the Fat Content of the Heart and Muscles
Effects of Citrulline Supplementation Combined With Exercise on Muscle Function and Functional Capacity in Older Obese Men and Women
Muscle Fat Compartments and Turnover as Determinant of Insulin Sensitivity - the MISTY Study
Who cites it
217 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 384 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effect of High-Fat Diet on Intramyocellular Lipid Content in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.The Journal of nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- No Influence of Overweight/Obesity on Exercise Lipid Oxidation: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Determinants of increased muscle insulin sensitivity of exercise-trained versus sedentary normal weight and overweight individuals.Science advances · 2025Trial
- Comparison of intramyocellular lipid metabolism in patients with diabetes and male athletes.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Exercise training improves mitochondrial respiration and is associated with an altered intramuscular phospholipid signature in women with obesity.Diabetologia · 2021Trial
- Impact of short-term exercise training intensity on β-cell function in older obese adults with prediabetes.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2018Trial
- Lipid metabolic networks, Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease in the PREDIMED trial.International journal of epidemiology · 2018Trial
- Skeletal muscle ceramides and relationship with insulin sensitivity after 2 weeks of simulated sedentary behaviour and recovery in healthy older adults.The Journal of physiology · 2018Trial
- Intracellular localization of diacylglycerols and sphingolipids influences insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial function in human skeletal muscle.JCI insight · 2018Trial
- Plasma Ceramides, Mediterranean Diet, and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in the PREDIMED Trial (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea).Circulation · 2017Trial
- Lipid droplet dynamics and insulin sensitivity upon a 5-day high-fat diet in Caucasians and South Asians.Scientific reports · 2017Trial
- Intramyocellular triacylglycerol accumulation across weight loss strategies; Sub-study of the CENTRAL trial.PloS one · 2017Trial
- Decoration of intramyocellular lipid droplets with PLIN5 modulates fasting-induced insulin resistance and lipotoxicity in humans.Diabetologia · 2016Trial
- A Diet Rich in Medium-Chain Fatty Acids Improves Systolic Function and Alters the Lipidomic Profile in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Pilot Study.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Modulation of the lipidomic profile due to a lipid challenge and fitness level: a postprandial study.Lipids in health and disease · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Mechanisms underlying the onset of oral lipid-induced skeletal muscle insulin resistance in humans.Diabetes · 2013Trial
- Muscle movement and metabolism: exercise and skeletal muscle as mediators of health-a report from the 26th Annual Harvard Nutrition Obesity Symposium, 2025.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Circulating ceramides and sphingomyelins: key biomarkers and targets in cardiovascular prevention.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
157 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveChronic exercise and obesity both increase intramyocellular triglycerides (IMTGs) despite having opposing effects on insulin sensitivity. We hypothesized that chronically exercise-trained muscle would be characterized by lower skeletal muscle diacylglycerols (DAGs) and ceramides despite higher IMTGs and would account for its higher insulin sensitivity. We also hypothesized that the expression of key skeletal muscle proteins involved in lipid droplet hydrolysis, DAG formation, and fatty-acid partitioning and oxidation would be associated with the lipotoxic phenotype. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsA total of 14 normal-weight, endurance-trained athletes (NWA group) and 7 normal-weight sedentary (NWS group) and 21 obese sedentary (OBS group) volunteers were studied. Insulin sensitivity was assessed by glucose clamps. IMTGs, DAGs, ceramides, and protein expression were measured in muscle biopsies.
resultsDAG content in the NWA group was approximately twofold higher than in the OBS group and ~50% higher than in the NWS group, corresponding to higher insulin sensitivity. While certain DAG moieties clearly were associated with better insulin sensitivity, other species were not. Ceramide content was higher in insulin-resistant obese muscle. The expression of OXPAT/perilipin-5, adipose triglyceride lipase, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase protein was higher in the NWA group, corresponding to a higher mitochondrial content, proportion of type 1 myocytes, IMTGs, DAGs, and insulin sensitivity.
conclusionsTotal myocellular DAGs were markedly higher in highly trained athletes, corresponding with higher insulin sensitivity, and suggest a more complex role for DAGs in insulin action. Our data also provide additional evidence in humans linking ceramides to insulin resistance. Finally, this study provides novel evidence supporting a role for specific skeletal muscle proteins involved in intramyocellular lipids, mitochondrial oxidative capacity, and insulin resistance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.