ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Metabolic Physiology
The role of impaired adipogenesis in insulin resistance among non-obese individuals
Provisionally accepted
Shamma Almuraikhy1
Maha Alser1
Khaled Naja1
Najeha Rizwana Anwardeen1
Samir Taha2Jomon John2Sharique Halim2
Saif Badran3Mohamed Badie Ahmed2
Salma Jarrar2Ghanem Aljassem2Fatima Saoud Al-Mohannadi2
Suhail Doi1Asmaa Abdel-Aziz1Yousra Jalal Elaf1
Mohamed A. Elrayess1*- 1Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
- 2Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
- 3Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
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Adipogenesis is an essential process for energy storage, hormone regulation, and overall metabolic health. Previous work showed that impaired adipogenesis plays an important role in the development of obesity-associated insulin resistance. This project investigates the role of impaired adipogenesis in the development of insulin resistance among non-obese (lean/overweight) individuals under physiological and pathological microenvironments. Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained from insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant non-obese cohorts undergoing maxillofacial or body contouring surgeries. Preadipocytes were isolated and examined for proliferation and adipogenic capacity, insulin signaling, and inflammatory markers. These assessments were conducted under basal conditions and following treatment with either tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) to induce insulin resistance or metformin to promote insulin sensitivity. Insulin-resistant participants, in comparison to insulin-sensitive counterparts, showed lower adipogenic capacity, higher susceptibility to the anti-adipogenic and pro-inflammatory effect of TNF-α potentially due to hyperphosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1. This highlights the role of impaired adipogenesis in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance among non-obese individuals. Further research is needed to understand the impact of impaired adipogenesis and the potential therapeutic interventions targeting adipogenesis to improve insulin sensitivity in non-obese individuals.
Keywords: Adipogenesis, Insulin Resistance, Metformin, Non-obese, tumor necrosis factor alpha
Received: 04 Nov 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Almuraikhy, Alser, Naja, Anwardeen, Taha, John, Halim, Badran, Ahmed, Jarrar, Aljassem, Al-Mohannadi, Doi, Abdel-Aziz, Elaf and Elrayess. 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: Mohamed A. Elrayess
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