HMOX2 and Insulin resistance: Recent studies in humans have linked HMOX2, Nrf2, and IL-1β with insulin resistance and obesity (Li et al., 2012, 2020; Crilly et al., 2016; Tan et al., 2018; Yao et al., 2020), which are two characteristics exhibited by fasting NES (Houser et al., 2013).