Neuronal Control of Brown Fat Activity.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation reduces body fat and metabolic disorders by the enhanced combustion of lipids and glucose into heat. The thermogenic activity of brown adipocytes is primarily driven by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and controlled by the brain. In this review, we present recent advances in understanding how cues, such as temperature, light, and proteins, modulate the activity of brown fat by acting on the various hypothalamic nuclei. Given that activated BAT has a high capacity to take up and burn fatty acids (FAs) and glucose, pharmacological stimulation of brown fat in humans by either targeting the hypothalamus or mimicking outflow of the sympathetic nervous system might help improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and also lower body fat.
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, and Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands.
Sander
S
Kooijman
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, and Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands.
José K
JK
van den Heuvel
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, and Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: P.C.N.Rensen@lumc.nl.
Patrick C N
PCN
Rensen
D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D022722:Thermogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
Brown adipose tissue; hypothalamus; sympathetic nervous system; thermogenesis; uncoupling protein 1