Emerging evidence for the opposite role of circulating irisin levels and brown adipose tissue activity measured by infrared thermography in anthropometric and metabolic profile during childhood

The recent demonstration that metabolically active brown adipose tissue (BAT) is present with a high prevalence in humans undoubtedly represents one of the major advancements in the field of metabolic research in the last few years. The increasing interest in BAT is justified by preclinical observations highlighting an important role of this tissue in energy dissipation and metabolic clearance of substrates from the blood. These findings imply that stimulation of BAT activity may represent a new therapeutic approach for obesity and associated comorbidities. However, before proposing BAT as a target organ for therapeutics in a clinical setting, many further notions about BAT function and modulation need to be explored. Keeping in mind the importance of sex dimorphism in energy metabolism control under physiological and pathological conditions, sex hormones may play a relevant role in the regulation of BAT activity in both males and females. Much of the evidence acquired in the past supports the concept of an important role for different sex hormones in BAT thermogenesis and indicates that this tissue mediates the ability of sex hormones to modulate energy balance. These findings make it plausible that a modified interaction between BAT and sex hormones may contribute to the development and the maintenance of obesity and associated metabolic complications.

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Differential Role of Adipose Tissues in Obesity and Related Metabolic and Vascular Complications

International Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1155/2016/1216783 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Almudena Gómez-Hernández ◽

Nuria Beneit ◽

Sabela Díaz-Castroverde ◽

Óscar Escribano

Keyword(s):

Adipose Tissue ◽

Brown Adipose Tissue ◽

Vascular Complications ◽

New Drugs ◽

Adipose Tissues ◽

Brown Adipose ◽

Brown Adipose Tissue Activity ◽

Atherosclerotic Process ◽

New Treatments

This review focuses on the contribution of white, brown, and perivascular adipose tissues to the pathophysiology of obesity and its associated metabolic and vascular complications. Weight gain in obesity generates excess of fat, usually visceral fat, and activates the inflammatory response in the adipocytes and then in other tissues such as liver. Therefore, low systemic inflammation responsible for insulin resistance contributes to atherosclerotic process. Furthermore, an inverse relationship between body mass index and brown adipose tissue activity has been described. For these reasons, in recent years, in order to combat obesity and its related complications, as a complement to conventional treatments, a new insight is focusing on the role of the thermogenic function of brown and perivascular adipose tissues as a promising therapy in humans. These lines of knowledge are focused on the design of new drugs, or other approaches, in order to increase the mass and/or activity of brown adipose tissue or the browning process of beige cells from white adipose tissue. These new treatments may contribute not only to reduce obesity but also to prevent highly prevalent complications such as type 2 diabetes and other vascular alterations, such as hypertension or atherosclerosis.

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