title: Direct evidence of brown adipocytes in different fat depots in children.
abstract: Recent studies suggested the persistence of brown adipocytes in adult humans, as opposed to being exclusively present in infancy. In this study, we investigated the presence of brown-like adipocytes in adipose tissue (AT) samples of children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years and evaluated the association with age, location, and obesity. For this, we analysed AT samples from 131 children and 23 adults by histological, immunohistochemical and expression analyses. We detected brown-like and UCP1 positive adipocytes in 10.3% of 87 lean children (aged 0.3 to 10.7 years) and in one overweight infant, whereas we did not find brown adipocytes in obese children or adults. In our samples, the brown-like adipocytes were interspersed within white AT of perirenal, visceral and also subcutaneous depots. Samples with brown-like adipocytes showed an increased expression of UCP1 (>200fold), PRDM16 (2.8fold), PGC1α and CIDEA while other brown/beige selective markers, such as PAT2, P2RX5, ZIC1, LHX8, TMEM26, HOXC9 and TBX1 were not significantly different between UCP1 positive and negative samples. We identified a positive correlation between UCP1 and PRDM16 within UCP1 positive samples, but not with any other brown/beige marker. In addition, we observed significantly increased PRDM16 and PAT2 expression in subcutaneous and visceral AT samples with high UCP1 expression in adults. Our data indicate that brown-like adipocytes are present well beyond infancy in subcutaneous depots of non-obese children. The presence was not restricted to typical perirenal locations, but they were also interspersed within WAT of visceral and subcutaneous depots.
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rockstroh
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Landgraf
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel Viola
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gesing
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tauscher
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lakowa
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Wieland
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kiess
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bühligen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wojan
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Till
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blüher
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Research Leipzig, University Hospital for Children & Adolescents, Department of Women's and Child Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Körner
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D052437:Adipocytes, Brown / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D052436:Adipose Tissue, White / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D026921:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Neutral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009765:Obesity; D050177:Overweight; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D027981:Symporters / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1
chemical_list: D026921:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Neutral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; C416371:PRDM16 protein, human; C485084:SLC36A2 protein, human; D027981:Symporters; D014157:Transcription Factors; C000604371:UCP1 protein, human; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1