Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2014 Jul;17(4):368-72. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000063.
New evidence has recently supported the notion that brown adipose tissue (BAT) is present in adult humans and can play a prominent role in the regulation of body weight and metabolism. This has renewed the efforts to understand the physiologic mechanisms by which BAT is activated, which in turn could provide new therapeutic strategies for obesity and diabetes.
BAT mass and activity are positively correlated with measures of metabolic health in rodents and humans; however, the amount of functional BAT in adult humans is highly variable with less found in overweight and obese individuals. The impact of BAT in the uptake and utilization of circulating nutrients is systemic, with major effects on whole-body insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance as illustrated by BAT transplantation in rodents. Furthermore, a host of physiologic conditions and novel peptides/hormones have been implicated in the activation of BAT thermogenesis and/or 'browning' of white adipocytes.
These new findings open the way for novel strategies aimed at increasing BAT mass and activity in obese humans as an important clinical goal in the midst of unprecedented high prevalence of obesity and associated metabolic disorders.
最近有新证据支持棕色脂肪组织（BAT）存在于成年人体内，并能在调节体重和代谢方面发挥重要作用。这一发现促使人们重新努力理解激活 BAT 的生理机制，这反过来又为肥胖和糖尿病提供了新的治疗策略。
BAT 质量和活性与啮齿动物和人类的代谢健康指标呈正相关；然而，成年人体内功能性 BAT 的数量差异很大，超重和肥胖个体体内 BAT 含量较少。BAT 对循环营养物质的摄取和利用的影响是全身性的，对全身胰岛素敏感性和葡萄糖耐量有重大影响，这可通过 BAT 在啮齿动物中的移植得到证明。此外，许多生理状况和新型肽/激素已被牵连到 BAT 产热和/或白色脂肪细胞“褐变”的激活中。
这些新发现为旨在增加肥胖人群中 BAT 质量和活性的新策略开辟了道路，这是肥胖及其相关代谢紊乱的空前高发率下的一个重要临床目标。
