Background
Insulin resistance in visceral adipose tissue (VAT), skeletal muscle and liver is a prominent feature of most patients with obesity. How this association arises remains poorly understood. The
Methods
To clarify the role of INSR and insulin signaling in adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity, we first measured INSR expression in VAT samples from normal-weight subjects and patients with different degrees of obesity. We complemented these studies with experiments on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice, and in human and murine adipocyte cultures, in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Findings: An inverse correlation was observed between increasing body mass index and decreasing INSR expression in VAT of obese humans. Our