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Ursolic Acid Increases Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat and Decreases Diet-Induced Obesity, Glucose Intolerance and Fatty Liver Disease

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, June 2012
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
12 news outlets
blogs
2 blogs
twitter
55 X users
patent
11 patents
facebook
23 Facebook pages
wikipedia
4 Wikipedia pages
googleplus
1 Google+ user
reddit
1 Redditor
video
3 YouTube creators

Citations

dimensions_citation
176 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
234 Mendeley
citeulike
3 CiteULike
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Title
Ursolic Acid Increases Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat and Decreases Diet-Induced Obesity, Glucose Intolerance and Fatty Liver Disease
Published in
PLOS ONE, June 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0039332
Pubmed ID
Authors

Steven D. Kunkel, Christopher J. Elmore, Kale S. Bongers, Scott M. Ebert, Daniel K. Fox, Michael C. Dyle, Steven A. Bullard, Christopher M. Adams

Abstract

Skeletal muscle Akt activity stimulates muscle growth and imparts resistance to obesity, glucose intolerance and fatty liver disease. We recently found that ursolic acid increases skeletal muscle Akt activity and stimulates muscle growth in non-obese mice. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ursolic acid might increase skeletal muscle Akt activity in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. We studied mice that consumed a high fat diet lacking or containing ursolic acid. In skeletal muscle, ursolic acid increased Akt activity, as well as downstream mRNAs that promote glucose utilization (hexokinase-II), blood vessel recruitment (Vegfa) and autocrine/paracrine IGF-I signaling (Igf1). As a result, ursolic acid increased skeletal muscle mass, fast and slow muscle fiber size, grip strength and exercise capacity. Interestingly, ursolic acid also increased brown fat, a tissue that shares developmental origins with skeletal muscle. Consistent with increased skeletal muscle and brown fat, ursolic acid increased energy expenditure, leading to reduced obesity, improved glucose tolerance and decreased hepatic steatosis. These data support a model in which ursolic acid reduces obesity, glucose intolerance and fatty liver disease by increasing skeletal muscle and brown fat, and suggest ursolic acid as a potential therapeutic approach for obesity and obesity-related illness.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 55 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 234 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 4 2%
United States 3 1%
Mexico 2 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Australia 1 <1%
Korea, Republic of 1 <1%
Netherlands 1 <1%
Japan 1 <1%
Spain 1 <1%
Other 0 0%
Unknown 219 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 47 20%
Student > Ph. D. Student 42 18%
Student > Master 25 11%
Student > Bachelor 15 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 12 5%
Other 48 21%
Unknown 45 19%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 56 24%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 36 15%
Medicine and Dentistry 30 13%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 10 4%
Chemistry 9 4%
Other 33 14%
Unknown 60 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 169. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 13 February 2024.
All research outputs
#234,898
of 25,124,631 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#3,430
of 217,932 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,021
of 169,420 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#46
of 3,944 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,124,631 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 217,932 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 169,420 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 3,944 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.