The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone
The discovery that metabolically active brown fat is present in humans throughout ontogeny raises new questions about the interactions between thermoregulatory, metabolic, and skeletal homeostasis. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is distinct from white adipose tissue (WAT) for its ability to burn, rather...
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Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
2015
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/110636 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22661 |
| _version_ | 1835010306980446208 |
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| author | Devlin, Maureen J. |
| author_facet | Devlin, Maureen J. |
| author_sort | Devlin, Maureen J. |
| collection | Unknown |
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| container_start_page | 14 |
| container_title | Inventions |
| container_volume | 4 |
| description | The discovery that metabolically active brown fat is present in humans throughout ontogeny raises new questions about the interactions between thermoregulatory, metabolic, and skeletal homeostasis. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is distinct from white adipose tissue (WAT) for its ability to burn, rather than store, energy. BAT uniquely expresses uncoupling protein‐1 (abbreviated as UCP1), which diverts the energy produced by cellular respiration to generate heat. While BAT is found in small mammals, hibernators, and newborns, this depot was thought to regress in humans during early postnatal life. Recent studies revealed that human BAT remains metabolically active throughout childhood and even in adulthood, particularly in response to cold exposure. In addition to the constitutive BAT depots present at birth, BAT cells can be induced within WAT depots under specific metabolic and climatic conditions. These cells, called inducible brown fat, “brite,” or beige fat, are currently the focus of intense investigation as a possible treatment for obesity. Inducible brown fat is associated with higher bone mineral density, suggesting that brown fat interacts with bone growth in previously unrecognized ways. Finally, BAT may have contributed to climatic adaptation in hominins. Here, I review current findings on the role of BAT in thermoregulation, bone growth, and metabolism, describe the potential role of BAT in moderating the obesity epidemic, and outline possible functions of BAT across hominin evolutionary history. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 156:98–115, 2015. © 2014 American Association of Physical Anthropologists Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110636/1/ajpa22661.pdf |
| format | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| genre | Arctic |
| genre_facet | Arctic |
| id | ftumdeepblue:oai:deepblue.lib.umich.edu:2027.42/110636 |
| institution | Open Polar |
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| op_collection_id | ftumdeepblue |
| op_doi | https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22661 |
| op_relation | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/110636 doi:10.1002/ajpa.22661 American Journal of Physical Anthropology Rowlatt U, Mrosovsky N, English A. 1971. A comparative survey of brown fat in the neck and axilla of mammals at birth. Biol Neonate 17: 53 – 83. Vijgen GH, Bouvy ND, Teule GJ, Brans B, Schrauwen P, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2011. Brown adipose tissue in morbidly obese subjects. PloS One 6: e17247. Virtanen KA, Lidell ME, Orava J, Heglind M, Westergren R, Niemi T, Taittonen M, Laine J, Savisto NJ, Enerback S, et al., 2009. Functional brown adipose tissue in healthy adults. New England J Med 360: 1518 – 1525. Vitali A, Murano I, Zingaretti MC, Frontini A, Ricquier D, Cinti S. 2012. The adipose organ of obesity‐prone C57BL/6J mice is composed of mixed white and brown adipocytes. J Lipid Res 53: 619 – 629. Wales N. 2012. Modeling Neanderthal clothing using ethnographic analogues. J Hum Evol 63: 781 – 795. Wang Q, Zhang M, Ning G, Gu W, Su T, Xu M, Li B, Wang W. 2011. Brown adipose tissue in humans is activated by elevated plasma catecholamines levels and is inversely related to central obesity. PloS One 6: e21006. Wang QA, Tao C, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. 2013. Tracking adipogenesis during white adipose tissue development, expansion and regeneration. Nat Med 19: 1338 – 1344. Wells JC. 2006. The evolution of human fatness and susceptibility to obesity: an ethological approach. Biol Rev Cambridge Phil Soc 81: 183 – 205. Wells JCK. 2009. The evolutionary biology of human body fatness thrift and control. Cambridge studies in biological and evolutionary anthropology v 58. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,. p 1 online resource ( 396 p.). Weyer C, Gautier JF, Danforth E Jr. 1999. Development of beta 3‐adrenoceptor agonists for the treatment of obesity and diabetes—an update. Diabetes Metab 25: 11 – 21. Wijers SL, Saris WH, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2010. Cold‐induced adaptive thermogenesis in lean and obese. Obesity (Silver Spring) 18: 1092 – 1099. Wijers SL, Schrauwen P, Saris WH, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2008. Human skeletal muscle mitochondrial uncoupling is associated with cold induced adaptive thermogenesis. PloS One 3: e1777. Wilkerson JE, Raven PB, Bolduan NW, Horvath SM. 1974. Adaptations in man's adrenal function in response to acute cold stress. J Appl Physiol 36: 183 – 189. Williamson DH. 1986. Fuel supply to brown adipose tissue. Biochem Soc Trans 14: 225 – 227. Wu J, Bostrom P, Sparks LM, Ye L, Choi JH, Giang AH, Khandekar M, Virtanen KA, Nuutila P, Schaart G, et al., 2012. Beige adipocytes are a distinct type of thermogenic fat cell in mouse and human. Cell 150: 366 – 376. Wu J, Cohen P, Spiegelman BM. 2013. Adaptive thermogenesis in adipocytes: is beige the new brown? Genes Dev 27: 234 – 250. Xiao XQ, Williams SM, Grayson BE, Glavas MM, Cowley MA, Smith MS, Grove KL. 2007. Excess weight gain during the early postnatal period is associated with permanent reprogramming of brown adipose tissue adaptive thermogenesis. Endocrinology 148: 4150 – 4159. Ye L, Wu J, Cohen P, Kazak L, Khandekar MJ, Jedrychowski MP, Zeng X, Gygi SP, Spiegelman BM. 2013. Fat cells directly sense temperature to activate thermogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110: 12480 – 12485. Yeung HW, Grewal RK, Gonen M, Schoder H, Larson SM. 2003. Patterns of (18)F‐FDG uptake in adipose tissue and muscle: a potential source of false‐positives for PET. J Nucl Med 44: 1789 – 1796. Yoneshiro T, Aita S, Matsushita M, Okamatsu‐Ogura Y, Kameya T, Kawai Y, Miyagawa M, Tsujisaki M, Saito M. 2011. Age‐related decrease in cold‐activated brown adipose tissue and accumulation of body fat in healthy humans. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19: 1755 – 1760. Heaton JM. 1973. A study of brown adipose tissue in hypothermia. J Pathol 110: 105 – 108. Aherne W, Hull D. 1966. Brown adipose tissue and heat production in the newborn infant. J Pathol Bacteriol 91: 223 – 234. Allain TJ, McGregor AM. 1993. Thyroid hormones and bone. J Endocrinol 139: 9 – 18. Altmann J, Schoeller D, Altmann SA, Muruthi P, Sapolsky RM. 1993. Body size and fatness of free‐living baboons reflect food availability and activity levels. Am J Primatol 30: 149 – 161. Andersen S, Kleinschmidt K, Hvingel B, Laurberg P. 2012. Thyroid hyperactivity with high thyroglobulin in serum despite sufficient iodine intake in chronic cold adaptation in an Arctic Inuit hunter population. Eur J Endocrinol/Eur Federation Endocrine Soc 166: 433 – 440. Anunciado‐Koza R, Ukropec J, Koza RA, Kozak LP. 2008. Inactivation of UCP1 and the glycerol phosphate cycle synergistically increases energy expenditure to resist diet‐induced obesity. J Biol Chem 283: 27688 – 27697. Arbuthnott E. 1989. Brown adipose tissue: structure and function. Proc Nutr Soc 48: 177 – 182. Astrup A, Bulow J, Christensen NJ. 1985. The effect of non‐esterified long‐chain fatty acids on blood flow and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue in the young dog. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 124: 81 – 85. Au‐Yong IT, Thorn N, Ganatra R, Perkins AC, Symonds ME. 2009. Brown adipose tissue and seasonal variation in humans. Diabetes 58: 2583 – 2587. Bartness TJ, Vaughan CH, Song CK. 2010. Sympathetic and sensory innervation of brown adipose tissue. Int J Obes (Lond) 34: S36 – S42. Bautista DM, Siemens J, Glazer JM, Tsuruda PR, Basbaum AI, Stucky CL, Jordt SE, Julius D. 2007. The menthol receptor TRPM8 is the principal detector of environmental cold. Nature 448: 204 – 208. Bhaskaran K, Hajat S, Haines A, Herrett E, Wilkinson P, Smeeth L. 2010. Short term effects of temperature on risk of myocardial infarction in England and Wales: time series regression analysis of the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) registry. BMJ 341: c3823. Bing C, Frankish HM, Pickavance L, Wang Q, Hopkins DF, Stock MJ, Williams G. 1998. Hyperphagia in cold‐exposed rats is accompanied by decreased plasma leptin but unchanged hypothalamic NPY. Am J Physiol 274 (Part 2 ): R62 – R68. Birkenfeld AL, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Heusser K, Franke G, Berlan M, Luft FC, Lafontan M, Jordan J. 2005. Lipid mobilization with physiological atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 90: 3622 – 3628. Birkenfeld AL, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Heusser K, Tank J, Diedrich A, Schroeder C, Franke G, Berlan M, et al., 2006. Beta‐adrenergic and atrial natriuretic peptide interactions on human cardiovascular and metabolic regulation. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 91: 5069 – 5075. Birkenfeld AL, Budziarek P, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Franke G, Berlan M, Marques MA, Sweep FC, Luft FC, Lafontan M, Jordan J. 2008. Atrial natriuretic peptide induces postprandial lipid oxidation in humans. Diabetes 57: 3199 – 3204. Boon MR, van den Berg SA, Wang Y, van den Bossche J, Karkampouna S, Bauwens M, De Saint‐Hubert M, van der Horst G, Vukicevic S, de Winther MP, et al., 2013. BMP7 activates brown adipose tissue and reduces diet‐induced obesity only at subthermoneutrality. PloS One 8: e74083. Bordicchia M, Liu D, Amri EZ, Ailhaud G, Dessi‐Fulgheri P, Zhang C, Takahashi N, Sarzani R, Collins S. 2012. Cardiac natriuretic peptides act via p38 MAPK to induce the brown fat thermogenic program in mouse and human adipocytes. J Clin Invest 122: 1022 – 1036. Bostrom P, Wu J, Jedrychowski MP, Korde A, Ye L, Lo JC, Rasbach KA, Bostrom EA, Choi JH, Long JZ, et al., 2012. A PGC1‐alpha‐dependent myokine that drives brown‐fat‐like development of white fat and thermogenesis. Nature 481: 463 – 468. Bredella MA, Fazeli PK, Freedman LM, Calder G, Lee H, Rosen CJ, Klibanski A. 2012. Young women with cold‐activated brown adipose tissue have higher bone mineral density and lower Pref‐1 than women without brown adipose tissue: a study in women with anorexia nervosa, women recovered from anorexia nervosa, and normal‐weight women. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 97: E584 – E590. Bredella MA, Gill CM, Rosen CJ, Klibanski A, Torriani M. 2014. Positive effects of brown adipose tissue on femoral bone structure. Bone 58: 55 – 58. Bukowiecki L, Collet AJ, Follea N, Guay G, Jahjah L. 1982. Brown adipose tissue hyperplasia: a fundamental mechanism of adaptation to cold and hyperphagia. Am J Physiol 242: E353 – E359. Campero M, Serra J, Bostock H, Ochoa JL. 2001. Slowly conducting afferents activated by innocuous low temperature in human skin. J Physiol 535 (Part 3 ): 855 – 865. Cannon B, and Nedergaard J. 2004. Brown adipose tissue: function and physiological significance. Physiol Rev 84: 277 – 359. Cao W, Daniel KW, Robidoux J, Puigserver P, Medvedev AV, Bai X, Floering LM, Spiegelman BM, Collins S. 2004. p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase is the central regulator of cyclic AMP‐dependent transcription of the brown fat uncoupling protein 1 gene. Mol Cell Biol 24: 3057 – 3067. Carvalho SD, Bianco AC, Silva JE. 1996. Effects of hypothyroidism on brown adipose tissue adenylyl cyclase activity. Endocrinology 137: 5519 – 5529. Casteilla L, Champigny O, Bouillaud F, Robelin J, Ricquier D. 1989. Sequential changes in the expression of mitochondrial protein mRNA during the development of brown adipose tissue in bovine and ovine species. Sudden occurrence of uncoupling protein mRNA during embryogenesis and its disappearance after birth. Biochem J 257: 665 – 671. |
| op_rights | IndexNoFollow |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
| record_format | openpolar |
| spelling | ftumdeepblue:oai:deepblue.lib.umich.edu:2027.42/110636 2025-06-15T14:17:48+00:00 The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone Devlin, Maureen J. 2015-02 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/110636 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22661 unknown Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Cambridge University Press https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/110636 doi:10.1002/ajpa.22661 American Journal of Physical Anthropology Rowlatt U, Mrosovsky N, English A. 1971. A comparative survey of brown fat in the neck and axilla of mammals at birth. Biol Neonate 17: 53 – 83. Vijgen GH, Bouvy ND, Teule GJ, Brans B, Schrauwen P, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2011. Brown adipose tissue in morbidly obese subjects. PloS One 6: e17247. Virtanen KA, Lidell ME, Orava J, Heglind M, Westergren R, Niemi T, Taittonen M, Laine J, Savisto NJ, Enerback S, et al., 2009. Functional brown adipose tissue in healthy adults. New England J Med 360: 1518 – 1525. Vitali A, Murano I, Zingaretti MC, Frontini A, Ricquier D, Cinti S. 2012. The adipose organ of obesity‐prone C57BL/6J mice is composed of mixed white and brown adipocytes. J Lipid Res 53: 619 – 629. Wales N. 2012. Modeling Neanderthal clothing using ethnographic analogues. J Hum Evol 63: 781 – 795. Wang Q, Zhang M, Ning G, Gu W, Su T, Xu M, Li B, Wang W. 2011. Brown adipose tissue in humans is activated by elevated plasma catecholamines levels and is inversely related to central obesity. PloS One 6: e21006. Wang QA, Tao C, Gupta RK, Scherer PE. 2013. Tracking adipogenesis during white adipose tissue development, expansion and regeneration. Nat Med 19: 1338 – 1344. Wells JC. 2006. The evolution of human fatness and susceptibility to obesity: an ethological approach. Biol Rev Cambridge Phil Soc 81: 183 – 205. Wells JCK. 2009. The evolutionary biology of human body fatness thrift and control. Cambridge studies in biological and evolutionary anthropology v 58. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,. p 1 online resource ( 396 p.). Weyer C, Gautier JF, Danforth E Jr. 1999. Development of beta 3‐adrenoceptor agonists for the treatment of obesity and diabetes—an update. Diabetes Metab 25: 11 – 21. Wijers SL, Saris WH, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2010. Cold‐induced adaptive thermogenesis in lean and obese. Obesity (Silver Spring) 18: 1092 – 1099. Wijers SL, Schrauwen P, Saris WH, van Marken Lichtenbelt WD. 2008. Human skeletal muscle mitochondrial uncoupling is associated with cold induced adaptive thermogenesis. PloS One 3: e1777. Wilkerson JE, Raven PB, Bolduan NW, Horvath SM. 1974. Adaptations in man's adrenal function in response to acute cold stress. J Appl Physiol 36: 183 – 189. Williamson DH. 1986. Fuel supply to brown adipose tissue. Biochem Soc Trans 14: 225 – 227. Wu J, Bostrom P, Sparks LM, Ye L, Choi JH, Giang AH, Khandekar M, Virtanen KA, Nuutila P, Schaart G, et al., 2012. Beige adipocytes are a distinct type of thermogenic fat cell in mouse and human. Cell 150: 366 – 376. Wu J, Cohen P, Spiegelman BM. 2013. Adaptive thermogenesis in adipocytes: is beige the new brown? Genes Dev 27: 234 – 250. Xiao XQ, Williams SM, Grayson BE, Glavas MM, Cowley MA, Smith MS, Grove KL. 2007. Excess weight gain during the early postnatal period is associated with permanent reprogramming of brown adipose tissue adaptive thermogenesis. Endocrinology 148: 4150 – 4159. Ye L, Wu J, Cohen P, Kazak L, Khandekar MJ, Jedrychowski MP, Zeng X, Gygi SP, Spiegelman BM. 2013. Fat cells directly sense temperature to activate thermogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110: 12480 – 12485. Yeung HW, Grewal RK, Gonen M, Schoder H, Larson SM. 2003. Patterns of (18)F‐FDG uptake in adipose tissue and muscle: a potential source of false‐positives for PET. J Nucl Med 44: 1789 – 1796. Yoneshiro T, Aita S, Matsushita M, Okamatsu‐Ogura Y, Kameya T, Kawai Y, Miyagawa M, Tsujisaki M, Saito M. 2011. Age‐related decrease in cold‐activated brown adipose tissue and accumulation of body fat in healthy humans. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19: 1755 – 1760. Heaton JM. 1973. A study of brown adipose tissue in hypothermia. J Pathol 110: 105 – 108. Aherne W, Hull D. 1966. Brown adipose tissue and heat production in the newborn infant. J Pathol Bacteriol 91: 223 – 234. Allain TJ, McGregor AM. 1993. Thyroid hormones and bone. J Endocrinol 139: 9 – 18. Altmann J, Schoeller D, Altmann SA, Muruthi P, Sapolsky RM. 1993. Body size and fatness of free‐living baboons reflect food availability and activity levels. Am J Primatol 30: 149 – 161. Andersen S, Kleinschmidt K, Hvingel B, Laurberg P. 2012. Thyroid hyperactivity with high thyroglobulin in serum despite sufficient iodine intake in chronic cold adaptation in an Arctic Inuit hunter population. Eur J Endocrinol/Eur Federation Endocrine Soc 166: 433 – 440. Anunciado‐Koza R, Ukropec J, Koza RA, Kozak LP. 2008. Inactivation of UCP1 and the glycerol phosphate cycle synergistically increases energy expenditure to resist diet‐induced obesity. J Biol Chem 283: 27688 – 27697. Arbuthnott E. 1989. Brown adipose tissue: structure and function. Proc Nutr Soc 48: 177 – 182. Astrup A, Bulow J, Christensen NJ. 1985. The effect of non‐esterified long‐chain fatty acids on blood flow and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue in the young dog. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 124: 81 – 85. Au‐Yong IT, Thorn N, Ganatra R, Perkins AC, Symonds ME. 2009. Brown adipose tissue and seasonal variation in humans. Diabetes 58: 2583 – 2587. Bartness TJ, Vaughan CH, Song CK. 2010. Sympathetic and sensory innervation of brown adipose tissue. Int J Obes (Lond) 34: S36 – S42. Bautista DM, Siemens J, Glazer JM, Tsuruda PR, Basbaum AI, Stucky CL, Jordt SE, Julius D. 2007. The menthol receptor TRPM8 is the principal detector of environmental cold. Nature 448: 204 – 208. Bhaskaran K, Hajat S, Haines A, Herrett E, Wilkinson P, Smeeth L. 2010. Short term effects of temperature on risk of myocardial infarction in England and Wales: time series regression analysis of the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) registry. BMJ 341: c3823. Bing C, Frankish HM, Pickavance L, Wang Q, Hopkins DF, Stock MJ, Williams G. 1998. Hyperphagia in cold‐exposed rats is accompanied by decreased plasma leptin but unchanged hypothalamic NPY. Am J Physiol 274 (Part 2 ): R62 – R68. Birkenfeld AL, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Heusser K, Franke G, Berlan M, Luft FC, Lafontan M, Jordan J. 2005. Lipid mobilization with physiological atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 90: 3622 – 3628. Birkenfeld AL, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Heusser K, Tank J, Diedrich A, Schroeder C, Franke G, Berlan M, et al., 2006. Beta‐adrenergic and atrial natriuretic peptide interactions on human cardiovascular and metabolic regulation. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 91: 5069 – 5075. Birkenfeld AL, Budziarek P, Boschmann M, Moro C, Adams F, Franke G, Berlan M, Marques MA, Sweep FC, Luft FC, Lafontan M, Jordan J. 2008. Atrial natriuretic peptide induces postprandial lipid oxidation in humans. Diabetes 57: 3199 – 3204. Boon MR, van den Berg SA, Wang Y, van den Bossche J, Karkampouna S, Bauwens M, De Saint‐Hubert M, van der Horst G, Vukicevic S, de Winther MP, et al., 2013. BMP7 activates brown adipose tissue and reduces diet‐induced obesity only at subthermoneutrality. PloS One 8: e74083. Bordicchia M, Liu D, Amri EZ, Ailhaud G, Dessi‐Fulgheri P, Zhang C, Takahashi N, Sarzani R, Collins S. 2012. Cardiac natriuretic peptides act via p38 MAPK to induce the brown fat thermogenic program in mouse and human adipocytes. J Clin Invest 122: 1022 – 1036. Bostrom P, Wu J, Jedrychowski MP, Korde A, Ye L, Lo JC, Rasbach KA, Bostrom EA, Choi JH, Long JZ, et al., 2012. A PGC1‐alpha‐dependent myokine that drives brown‐fat‐like development of white fat and thermogenesis. Nature 481: 463 – 468. Bredella MA, Fazeli PK, Freedman LM, Calder G, Lee H, Rosen CJ, Klibanski A. 2012. Young women with cold‐activated brown adipose tissue have higher bone mineral density and lower Pref‐1 than women without brown adipose tissue: a study in women with anorexia nervosa, women recovered from anorexia nervosa, and normal‐weight women. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism 97: E584 – E590. Bredella MA, Gill CM, Rosen CJ, Klibanski A, Torriani M. 2014. Positive effects of brown adipose tissue on femoral bone structure. Bone 58: 55 – 58. Bukowiecki L, Collet AJ, Follea N, Guay G, Jahjah L. 1982. Brown adipose tissue hyperplasia: a fundamental mechanism of adaptation to cold and hyperphagia. Am J Physiol 242: E353 – E359. Campero M, Serra J, Bostock H, Ochoa JL. 2001. Slowly conducting afferents activated by innocuous low temperature in human skin. J Physiol 535 (Part 3 ): 855 – 865. Cannon B, and Nedergaard J. 2004. Brown adipose tissue: function and physiological significance. Physiol Rev 84: 277 – 359. Cao W, Daniel KW, Robidoux J, Puigserver P, Medvedev AV, Bai X, Floering LM, Spiegelman BM, Collins S. 2004. p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase is the central regulator of cyclic AMP‐dependent transcription of the brown fat uncoupling protein 1 gene. Mol Cell Biol 24: 3057 – 3067. Carvalho SD, Bianco AC, Silva JE. 1996. Effects of hypothyroidism on brown adipose tissue adenylyl cyclase activity. Endocrinology 137: 5519 – 5529. Casteilla L, Champigny O, Bouillaud F, Robelin J, Ricquier D. 1989. Sequential changes in the expression of mitochondrial protein mRNA during the development of brown adipose tissue in bovine and ovine species. Sudden occurrence of uncoupling protein mRNA during embryogenesis and its disappearance after birth. Biochem J 257: 665 – 671. IndexNoFollow human obesity brown adipose tissue bone Anthropology Social Sciences Article 2015 ftumdeepblue https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22661 2025-06-04T05:59:20Z The discovery that metabolically active brown fat is present in humans throughout ontogeny raises new questions about the interactions between thermoregulatory, metabolic, and skeletal homeostasis. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is distinct from white adipose tissue (WAT) for its ability to burn, rather than store, energy. BAT uniquely expresses uncoupling protein‐1 (abbreviated as UCP1), which diverts the energy produced by cellular respiration to generate heat. While BAT is found in small mammals, hibernators, and newborns, this depot was thought to regress in humans during early postnatal life. Recent studies revealed that human BAT remains metabolically active throughout childhood and even in adulthood, particularly in response to cold exposure. In addition to the constitutive BAT depots present at birth, BAT cells can be induced within WAT depots under specific metabolic and climatic conditions. These cells, called inducible brown fat, “brite,” or beige fat, are currently the focus of intense investigation as a possible treatment for obesity. Inducible brown fat is associated with higher bone mineral density, suggesting that brown fat interacts with bone growth in previously unrecognized ways. Finally, BAT may have contributed to climatic adaptation in hominins. Here, I review current findings on the role of BAT in thermoregulation, bone growth, and metabolism, describe the potential role of BAT in moderating the obesity epidemic, and outline possible functions of BAT across hominin evolutionary history. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 156:98–115, 2015. © 2014 American Association of Physical Anthropologists Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110636/1/ajpa22661.pdf Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Unknown Inventions 4 1 14 |
| spellingShingle | human obesity brown adipose tissue bone Anthropology Social Sciences Devlin, Maureen J. The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title | The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title_full | The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title_fullStr | The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title_full_unstemmed | The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title_short | The “Skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| title_sort | “skinny” on brown fat, obesity, and bone |
| topic | human obesity brown adipose tissue bone Anthropology Social Sciences |
| topic_facet | human obesity brown adipose tissue bone Anthropology Social Sciences |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/110636 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22661 |