Energy dissipation in brown adipose tissue: From mice to men.

In rodents, brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a metabolic organ that response to cold and dietary intake through mitochondrial uncoupling. time, BAT was considered to be solely important in small mammals and however recent studies have shown that BAT is also functional in adult Interestingly, the presence and/or functionality of this thermogenic diminished in obese people, suggesting a link between human BAT and body regulation. In the last years, evidence has also emerged for the adipocytes that may have an intermediate thermogenic phenotype between brown adipocytes, so called brite or beige adipocytes. Together, these have resulted in a renewed interested in (human) brown adipose tissue pathways to increase the activity and recruitment of these thermogenic Stimulating BAT hypertrophy and hyperplasia in humans could be a strategy to target obesity. Here we will review suggested pathways activation in humans, and discuss novel putative BAT activators in human perspective