Caffeine promotes the production of Irisin in muscles and thus facilitates the browning of white adipose tissue

Abstract

With the progress of modern society, obesity has gradually emerged as a major public health challenge. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the potential of caffeine (CAF) as a nutritional tool for combating obesity. While previous studies has demonstrated CAF's ability to directly influence white adipose tissue (WAT) by promoting browning and reducing obesity, the role of muscle in obesity reduction should not be overlooked. Given that exercise is a primary component of weight loss, our study aimed to investigate whether CAF can alleviate adiposity by modulating the skeletal muscle–adipose tissue crosstalk. Our study demonstrates that CAF can alleviate obesity by enhancing the expression of PGC-1α through calcium-related signaling pathways in skeletal muscle, which subsequently induces the production of Irisin in myotubes and high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice in vitro. Irisin, in turn, circulates to WAT and promotes browning, thus providing a theoretical foundation for the use of CAF as a nutritional tool for weight control. Overall, our findings highlight the potential of CAF in modulating skeletal muscle–adipose tissue crosstalk and suggest that it may be an effective tool for reducing obesity.