Gunawardana Subhadra C
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Nashville, TN USA.
Adipocyte. 2012 Oct 1;1(4):250-255. doi: 10.4161/adip.21042.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT), an important endocrine organ long known for thermogenesis and energy consumption, has received much attention in recent years for its potential to combat obesity. In general, BAT can enhance metabolism and improve overall health. Our recent work demonstrates the ability of embryonic BAT transplants to correct type 1 diabetes (T1D) without insulin, via mechanisms somewhat different from those involved in BAT-associated weight loss. BAT transplants seem to reverse T1D by decreasing inflammation and increasing functionality in the surrounding white adipose tissue (WAT), thereby enabling it to secrete hypoglycemic adipokines, which compensate for the function of insulin. Thus BAT can transform unhealthy WAT to a healthy status, sufficient to replace the function of endocrine pancreas and establish insulin-independent glycemic regulation. Several studies, including ours, demonstrate the remarkable ability of BAT to correct metabolic disorders and hint at its beneficial effects on inflammation. Hence, addition of more BAT to the body, through transplantation or stimulating regeneration, may well be the therapy of the future for the simple correction of numerous diseases.
棕色脂肪组织（BAT）是一个长期以来以产热和能量消耗而闻名的重要内分泌器官，近年来因其对抗肥胖的潜力而备受关注。一般来说，棕色脂肪组织可以增强新陈代谢并改善整体健康状况。我们最近的研究表明，胚胎棕色脂肪组织移植能够在不使用胰岛素的情况下纠正1型糖尿病（T1D），其机制与棕色脂肪组织相关的体重减轻机制有所不同。棕色脂肪组织移植似乎通过减少炎症并增加周围白色脂肪组织（WAT）的功能来逆转1型糖尿病，从而使其能够分泌降血糖脂肪因子，以补偿胰岛素的功能。因此，棕色脂肪组织可以将不健康的白色脂肪组织转变为健康状态，足以替代内分泌胰腺的功能并建立不依赖胰岛素的血糖调节。包括我们的研究在内的多项研究表明，棕色脂肪组织具有纠正代谢紊乱的显著能力，并暗示其对炎症具有有益作用。因此，通过移植或刺激再生向体内添加更多棕色脂肪组织，很可能成为未来简单纠正多种疾病的治疗方法。
