Department of Nutrition, Tenshi College, Sapporo, Japan.
Curr Opin Lipidol. 2013 Feb;24(1):71-7. doi: 10.1097/MOL.0b013e32835a4f40.
Capsaicin and its nonpungent analog (capsinoids) are known to be food ingredients that increase energy expenditure and decrease body fat. This article reviews the role of brown adipose tissue (BAT) for the thermogenic effect of these compounds in humans and proposes the possibility of some other antiobesity food ingredients.
A single oral ingestion of capsinoids increases energy expenditure in human individuals with metabolically active BAT, but not those without it, indicating that capsinoids activate BAT and thereby increase energy expenditure. This finding gave a rational explanation for discrepant results of the effects of capsinoids in the previous studies. Human BAT may be largely composed of inducible 'beige' adipocytes more than typical brown adipocytes because its gene expression patterns are similar to beige cells isolated from murine white fat depots. In fact, preadipocytes isolated from supraclavicular fat deposits - where BAT is often detected - are capable of differentiating into brown-like adipocytes in vitro, providing evidence of inducible brown adipogenesis in adult humans.
As human BAT may be inducible, a prolonged ingestion of capsinoids would recruit active BAT and thereby increase energy expenditure and decrease body fat. In addition to capsinoids, there are numerous food ingredients that are expected to activate BAT and so be useful for the prevention of obesity in daily life.
综述目的：辣椒素及其非刺激性类似物（辣椒素类）是已知的能增加能量消耗和减少体脂的食物成分。本文综述了这些化合物在人类中对棕色脂肪组织（BAT）产热作用的作用，并提出了一些其他抗肥胖食物成分的可能性。
最新发现：单次口服辣椒素类可增加代谢活跃的 BAT 个体的能量消耗，但对没有 BAT 的个体则没有影响，这表明辣椒素类激活了 BAT，从而增加了能量消耗。这一发现为以前研究中辣椒素类作用的不一致结果提供了合理的解释。人类的 BAT 可能主要由诱导型“米色”脂肪细胞组成，而不是典型的棕色脂肪细胞，因为其基因表达模式与从鼠白色脂肪库分离出的米色细胞相似。事实上，从锁骨上脂肪沉积物（通常检测到 BAT 的地方）分离出来的前体脂肪细胞在体外能够分化为棕色样脂肪细胞，为成人中诱导性棕色脂肪生成提供了证据。
总结：由于人类的 BAT 可能是可诱导的，因此长期摄入辣椒素类可能会募集活跃的 BAT，从而增加能量消耗和减少体脂。除了辣椒素类，还有许多食物成分有望激活 BAT，因此在日常生活中对预防肥胖有用。
