REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1619462
Research Progress on the Role of FGF21 in Insulin Resistance
Provisionally accepted
- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2FIRST AFFILIATED HOSPITAL, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The elevated global prevalence of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has led to a dramatic increase in patients with insulin resistance. The majority of insulin resistance is closely associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, resulting in impaired insulin signaling pathways. type 2 diabetes can be preceded by insulin resistance, and therefore, it is crucial to stop the progression of insulin resistance to type 2 diabetes. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) holds a bright future in the therapeutic study of insulin resistance; it is involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism and immune homeostasis while ameliorating the impaired insulin signaling pathway, improving the state of insulin resistance through multiple aspects. In this review, we describe the physiological properties and signaling pathways of FGF21 and elaborate on the mechanism of action of FGF21 in improving insulin resistance. Finally, the progress of FGF21 analog research is summarized in the context of the treatment of insulin resistance.
Keywords: Insulin resistance1, FGF212, Signaling pathway3, Glucose 4, Hyperinsulinemia 5
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhu, Sun and Du. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Likun Du, FIRST AFFILIATED HOSPITAL, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.