Brown fat tagged posts

Researchers have discovered an unexpected biological pathway by which brown fat cells can translate energy into heat. When we are exposed to sufficient cold or exercise, small clusters of brown fat cells in our bodies begin to burn up energy. Since 2009, when researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and other institutions discovered that this helpful form of fat can be active in adults, scientists have sought to turn up the heat from these cells to treat obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions.

Researchers in the lab of Joslin’s Yu-Hua Tseng, PhD, a Senior Investigator in the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, now have dis...

Scientists from the University of Nottingham have discovered that drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate ‘brown fat’, the body’s own fat-fighting defenses, which could be the key to tackling obesity and diabetes.

The pioneering study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, is one of the first to be carried out in humans to find components which could have a direct effect on ‘brown fat’ functions, an important part of the human body which plays a key role in how quickly we can burn calories as energy.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is one of two types of fat found in humans and other mammals...

Infrared images indicate the much warmer temperatures of a normal mouse (left) compared to a mouse unable to make ERR gamma (right). Credit: Salk Institute

A protein found in brown fat, but not typical white fat, is key to how the energy-burning brown fat cells function. While most fat cells in the human body store energy, everyone has a small subset of brown fat cells that do the opposite – burn energy and generate heat. Now, Salk researchers have discovered how the molecule ERRγ gives this “healthier” brown fat its energy-expending identity, making those cells ready to warm you up when you step into the cold, and potentially offering a new therapeutic target for diseases related to obesity.

“This not only advances our understanding of how the body responds to cold, but could lead to new...

Microneedle patch. Credit: Zhen Gu, UNC and NC State

Microneedle skin patch that delivers fat-shrinking drug locally could be used to treat obesity and diabetes. Researchers have devised a medicated skin patch that can turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat locally while raising the body’s overall metabolism. White fat stores excess energy in large triglyceride droplets. Brown fat has smaller droplets and a high number of mitochondria that burn fat to produce heat. Newborns have a relative abundance of brown fat, which protects against exposure to cold temperatures. But by adulthood, most brown fat is lost.

For years, researchers have been searching for therapies that can transform an adult’s white fat into brown fat – browning – which can happen naturally when the bod...