Identification and Importance of Brown Adipose Tissue in Adult Humans

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 360; no. 15; pp. 1509 - 1517
• Main Authors: Cypess, Aaron M, Lehman, Sanaz, Williams, Gethin, Tal, Ilan, Rodman, Dean, Goldfine, Allison B, Kuo, Frank C, Palmer, Edwin L, Tseng, Yu-Hua, Doria, Alessandro, Kolodny, Gerald M, Kahn, C. Ronald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Waltham, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 09.04.2009
• Subjects: Adipocytes, Brown; Adipose Tissue, Brown - cytology; Adipose Tissue, Brown - diagnostic imaging; Adipose Tissue, Brown - metabolism; Adiposity; Adrenergic beta-Antagonists - therapeutic use; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Glucose - analysis; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Energy Metabolism; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 - pharmacokinetics; General aspects; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Neck; Positron-Emission Tomography; Radiopharmaceuticals - pharmacokinetics; Rodents; Sex Characteristics; Statistics, Nonparametric; Temperature; Tomography; Young Adult; Human; Medicine; Adult; Brown adipose tissue; Identification
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0810780

This study used 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomographic and computed tomographic scans to identify substantial depots of brown adipose tissue in a region extending from the anterior neck to the thorax. Such depots were found in 7.5% of the women (76 of 1013) and 3.1% of the men (30 of 959). The amount of brown adipose tissue was inversely correlated with body-mass index, especially in older people, suggesting a potential role of brown adipose tissue in adult human metabolism. The amount of brown adipose tissue on PET and CT scans was inversely correlated with body-mass index, especially in older people, suggesting a potential role of brown adipose tissue in adult human metabolism. Obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. 1 , 2 The adipose-tissue pool in mammals is composed of at least two functionally different types of fat: white and brown. White adipose tissue is the primary site of energy storage and of release of hormones and cytokines that modulate whole-body metabolism and insulin resistance. 3 – 6 Excess accumulation of white adipose tissue causes obesity. Brown adipose tissue, on the other hand, is important for both basal and inducible energy expenditure in the form of thermogenesis mediated by the expression of the tissue-specific uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). Brown adipose tissue affects whole-body . . .