Gerontology

Clinical Section / Mini-Review

Free Access

Brown versus White Adipose Tissue: A Mini-Review

Saely C.H.a–c · Geiger K.b, c · Drexel H.a–d

Author affiliations

aDepartment of Medicine and Cardiology, Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, and bVorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT), Feldkirch, Austria; cPrivate University of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein; dDrexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa., USA

Corresponding Author

Christoph H. Saely, MD

Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT)

Carinagasse 47

AT–6807 Feldkirch (Austria)

Tel. +43 5522 303 2670, Fax +43 5522 303 7533, E-Mail vivit@lkhf.at

Keywords: Brown fatBrown adipose tissueWhite adipose tissueWhite fatAging

Related Articles for ""
Gerontology 2012;58:15–23
https://doi.org/10.1159/000321319

Abstract

Background: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is abundant in small mammals and in newborns and helps them to survive cold temperatures. In adults, it had long been considered to be absent or at least of no relevance. Recent investigations, however, have fuelled interest in adult BAT. Objective: We aimed at (1) summarizing structural and physiological characteristics of BAT versus white adipose tissue (WAT); (2) discussing the development of the two adipose tissue types; (3) reviewing the data available from human studies on BAT, and (4) discussing the impact of aging. Methods: We summarize recent descriptions of BAT and WAT based on the original literature and reviews in the field, with emphasis on human BAT. Results: WAT and BAT have essentially antagonistic functions: WAT stores excess energy as triglycerides and BAT is specialized in the dissipation of energy through the production of heat. Considerable amounts of BAT are present in a substantial proportion of adult humans and relatively high quantities of BAT are associated with lower body weight. With increasing age, BAT decreases and body weight increases. Conclusions: Although the available cross-sectional data do not allow definite conclusions to be drawn concerning a causal relationship between loss of BAT and increasing body weight with advancing age or obesity-related metabolic disorders of older age, stimulation of BAT appears to be an attractive novel candidate target for the treatment of age-related obesity.

© 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel



Related Articles:

References

  1. Cinti S: Transdifferentiation properties of adipocytes in the adipose organ. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2009. Epub ahead of print.
  2. Mattson MP: Perspective: does brown fat protect against diseases of aging? Ageing Res Rev 2010;9:69–76.
    External Resources
  3. Wehrli NE, Bural G, Houseni M, Alkhawaldeh K, Alavi A, Torigian DA: Determination of age-related changes in structure and function of skin, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle with computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography. Semin Nucl Med 2007;37:195–205.
    External Resources
  4. Gesta S, Tseng YH, Kahn CR: Developmental origin of fat: tracking obesity to its source. Cell 2007;131:242–256.
    External Resources
  5. Mano-Otagiri A, Iwasaki-Sekino A, Ohata H, Arai K, Shibasaki T: Nicotine suppresses energy storage through activation of sympathetic outflow to brown adipose tissue via corticotropin-releasing factor type 1 receptor. Neurosci Lett 2009;455:26–29.
    External Resources
  6. Enerback S: The origins of brown adipose tissue. N Engl J Med 2009;360:2021–2023.
    External Resources
  7. Farmer SR: Brown fat and skeletal muscle: unlikely cousins? Cell 2008;134:726–727.
    External Resources
  8. Atit R, Sgaier SK, Mohamed OA, Taketo MM, Dufort D, Joyner AL, Niswander L, Conlon RA: β-Catenin activation is necessary and sufficient to specify the dorsal dermal fate in the mouse. Dev Biol 2006;296:164–176.
    External Resources
  9. Timmons JA, Wennmalm K, Larsson O, Walden TB, Lassmann T, Petrovic N, Hamilton DL, Gimeno RE, Wahlestedt C, Baar K, Nedergaard J, Cannon B: Myogenic gene expression signature establishes that brown and white adipocytes originate from distinct cell lineages. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007;104:4401–4406.
    External Resources
  10. Seale P, Kajimura S, Yang W, Chin S, Rohas LM, Uldry M, Tavernier G, Langin D, Spiegelman BM: Transcriptional control of brown fat determination by PRDM16. Cell Metab 2007;6:38–54.
    External Resources
  11. Seale P, Bjork B, Yang W, Kajimura S, Chin S, Kuang S, Scime A, Devarakonda S, Conroe HM, Erdjument-Bromage H, Tempst P, Rudnicki MA, Beier DR, Spiegelman BM: PRDM16 controls a brown fat/skeletal muscle switch. Nature 2008;454:961–967.
    External Resources
  12. Tseng YH, Kokkotou E, Schulz TJ, Huang TL, Winnay JN, Taniguchi CM, Tran TT, Suzuki R, Espinoza DO, Yamamoto Y, Ahrens MJ, Dudley AT, Norris AW, Kulkarni RN, Kahn CR: New role of bone morphogenetic protein 7 in brown adipogenesis and energy expenditure. Nature 2008;454:1000–1004.
    External Resources
  13. Perwitz N, Wenzel J, Wagner I, Buning J, Drenckhan M, Zarse K, Ristow M, Lilienthal W, Lehnert H, Klein J: Cannabinoid type 1 receptor blockade induces transdifferentiation towards a brown fat phenotype in white adipocytes. Diabetes Obes Metab 2010;12:158–166.
    External Resources
  14. Huttunen P, Hirvonen J, Kinnula V: The occurrence of brown adipose tissue in outdoor workers. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1981;46:339–345.
    External Resources
  15. Ricquier D, Nechad M, Mory G: Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of human brown adipose tissue in pheochromocytoma. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1982;54:803–807.
    External Resources
  16. Cohade C, Mourtzikos KA, Wahl RL: ‘USA-Fat’: prevalence is related to ambient outdoor temperature-evaluation with 18F-FDG PET/CT. J Nucl Med 2003;44:1267–1270.
    External Resources
  17. Cohade C, Osman M, Pannu HK, Wahl RL: Uptake in supraclavicular area fat (‘USA-fat’): description on 18F-FDG PET/CT. J Nucl Med 2003;44:170–176.
    External Resources
  18. Yeung HW, Grewal RK, Gonen M, Schoder H, Larson SM: Patterns of 18F-FDG uptake in adipose tissue and muscle: a potential source of false-positives for PET. J Nucl Med 2003;44:1789–1796.
    External Resources
  19. Truong MT, Erasmus JJ, Munden RF, Marom EM, Sabloff BS, Gladish GW, Podoloff DA, Macapinlac HA: Focal FDG uptake in mediastinal brown fat mimicking malignancy: a potential pitfall resolved on PET/CT. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2004;183:1127–1132.
    External Resources
  20. Hany TF, Gharehpapagh E, Kamel EM, Buck A, Himms-Hagen J, von Schulthess GK: Brown adipose tissue: a factor to consider in symmetrical tracer uptake in the neck and upper chest region. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2002;29:1393–1398.
    External Resources
  21. Sturkenboom MG, Franssen EJ, Berkhof J, Hoekstra OS: Physiological uptake of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose in the neck and upper chest region: are there predictive characteristics? Nucl Med Commun 2004;25:1109–1111.
    External Resources
  22. Dobert N, Menzel C, Hamscho N, Wordehoff W, Kranert WT, Grunwald F: Atypical thoracic and supraclavicular FDG-uptake in patients with Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2004;48:33–38.
    External Resources
  23. Rousseau C, Bourbouloux E, Campion L, Fleury N, Bridji B, Chatal JF, Resche I, Campone M: Brown fat in breast cancer patients: analysis of serial 18F-FDG PET/CT scans. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2006;33:785–791.
    External Resources
  24. Cypess AM, Lehman S, Williams G, Tal I, Rodman D, Goldfine AB, Kuo FC, Palmer EL, Tseng YH, Doria A, Kolodny GM, Kahn CR: Identification and importance of brown adipose tissue in adult humans. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1509–1517.
    External Resources
  25. Stefan N, Pfannenberg C, Haring HU: The importance of brown adipose tissue. N Engl J Med 2009;361:416–417.
    External Resources
  26. Au-Yong IT, Thorn N, Ganatra R, Perkins AC, Symonds ME: Brown adipose tissue and seasonal variation in humans. Diabetes 2009;58:2583–2587.
    External Resources
  27. Garcia CA, Van ND, Majd M, Atkins F, Acio E, Sheikh A, Butler C: Benzodiazepine-resistant ‘brown fat’ pattern in positron emission tomography: two case reports of resolution with temperature control. Mol Imaging Biol 2004;6:368–372.
    External Resources
  28. Fukuchi K, Tatsumi M, Ishida Y, Oku N, Hatazawa J, Wahl RL: Radionuclide imaging metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue in a patient with pheochromocytoma. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 2004;112:601–603.
    External Resources
  29. Nedergaard J, Bengtsson T, Cannon B: Unexpected evidence for active brown adipose tissue in adult humans. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2007;293:E444–E452.
    External Resources
  30. van Marken Lichtenbelt WD, Vanhommerig JW, Smulders NM, Drossaerts JM, Kemerink GJ, Bouvy ND, Schrauwen P, Teule GJ: Cold-activated brown adipose tissue in healthy men. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1500–1508.
    External Resources
  31. Virtanen KA, Lidell ME, Orava J, Heglind M, Westergren R, Niemi T, Taittonen M, Laine J, Savisto NJ, Enerback S, Nuutila P: Functional brown adipose tissue in healthy adults. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1518–1525.
    External Resources
  32. Lee P, Ho KK, Fulham MJ: The importance of brown adipose tissue. N Engl J Med 2009;361:418–420.
    External Resources
  33. Timmons JA, Pedersen BK: The importance of brown adipose tissue. N Engl J Med 2009;361:415–416.
    External Resources
  34. Saito M, Okamatsu-Ogura Y, Matsushita M, Watanabe K, Yoneshiro T, Nio-Kobayashi J, Iwanaga T, Miyagawa M, Kameya T, Nakada K, Kawai Y, Tsujisaki M: High incidence of metabolically active brown adipose tissue in healthy adult humans: effects of cold exposure and adiposity. Diabetes 2009;58:1526–1531.
    External Resources
  35. Sacks HS, Fain JN, Holman B, Cheema P, Chary A, Parks F, Karas J, Optican R, Bahouth SW, Garrett E, Wolf RY, Carter RA, Robbins T, Wolford D, Samaha J: Uncoupling protein-1 and related messenger ribonucleic acids in human epicardial and other adipose tissues: epicardial fat functioning as brown fat. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2009;94:3611–3615.
    External Resources
  36. Zingaretti MC, Crosta F, Vitali A, Guerrieri M, Frontini A, Cannon B, Nedergaard J, Cinti S: The presence of UCP1 demonstrates that metabolically active adipose tissue in the neck of adult humans truly represents brown adipose tissue. FASEB J 2009;23:3113–3120.
    External Resources
  37. Cartwright MJ, Tchkonia T, Kirkland JL: Aging in adipocytes: potential impact of inherent, depot-specific mechanisms. Exp Gerontol 2007;42:463–471.
    External Resources
  38. McDonald RB, Horwitz BA, Hamilton JS, Stern JS: Cold- and norepinephrine-induced thermogenesis in younger and older Fischer 344 rats. Am J Physiol 1988;254:R457–R462.
    External Resources
  39. Norman DC, Grahn D, Yoshikawa TT: Fever and aging. J Am Geriatr Soc 1985;33:859–863.
    External Resources
  40. Scarpace PJ, Matheny M, Borst SE: Thermogenesis and mitochondrial GDP binding with age in response to the novel agonist CGP-12177A. Am J Physiol 1992;262:E185–E190.
    External Resources
  41. Cannon B, Nedergaard J: Brown adipose tissue: function and physiological significance. Physiol Rev 2004;84:277–359.
    External Resources
  42. McDonald RB, Day C, Carlson K, Stern JS, Horwitz BA: Effect of age and gender on thermoregulation. Am J Physiol 1989;257:R700–R704.
    External Resources
  43. Langin D, Tavernier G, Lafontan M: Regulation of β3-adrenoceptor expression in white fat cells. Fundam Clin Pharmacol 1995;9:97–106.
    External Resources
  44. Scarpace PJ, Dove J, Matheny M: Effects of age on β-adrenergic subtype activation of adenylyl cyclase in brown adipose tissue. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1996;213:262–267.
    External Resources
  45. Ueno N, Oh-ishi S, Segawa M, Nishida M, Fukuwatari Y, Kizaki T, Ookawara T, Ohno H: Effect of age on brown adipose tissue activity in the obese (ob/ob) mouse. Mech Ageing Dev 1998;100:67–76.
    External Resources
  46. Weindruch R, Sohal RS: Seminars in medicine of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Caloric intake and aging. N Engl J Med 1997;337:986–994.
    External Resources
  47. Colom B, Oliver J, Roca P, Garcia-Palmer FJ: Caloric restriction and gender modulate cardiac muscle mitochondrial H2O2 production and oxidative damage. Cardiovasc Res 2007;74:456–465.
    External Resources
  48. Hepple RT, Baker DJ, McConkey M, Murynka T, Norris R: Caloric restriction protects mitochondrial function with aging in skeletal and cardiac muscles. Rejuvenation Res 2006;9:219–222.
    External Resources
  49. Valle A, Guevara R, Garcia-Palmer FJ, Roca P, Oliver J: Caloric restriction retards the age-related decline in mitochondrial function of brown adipose tissue. Rejuvenation Res 2008;11:597–604.
    External Resources
  50. Galic S, Oakhill JS, Steinberg GR: Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2010;316:129–139.
    External Resources
  51. Saely CH, Risch L, Hoefle G, Rein P, Muendlein A, Marte T, Aczel S, Langer P, Drexel H: Low serum adiponectin is independently associated with both the metabolic syndrome and angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis. Clin Chim Acta 2007;383:97–102.
    External Resources
  52. Bik W, Baranowska B: Adiponectin – a predictor of higher mortality in cardiovascular disease or a factor contributing to longer life? Neuro Endocrinol Lett 2009;30:180–184.
    External Resources
  53. Koh SJ, Hyun YJ, Choi SY, Chae JS, Kim JY, Park S, Ahn CM, Jang Y, Lee JH: Influence of age and visceral fat area on plasma adiponectin concentrations in women with normal glucose tolerance. Clin Chim Acta 2008;389:45–50.
    External Resources
  54. Breslow MJ, Min-Lee K, Brown DR, Chacko VP, Palmer D, Berkowitz DE: Effect of leptin deficiency on metabolic rate in ob/ob mice. Am J Physiol 1999;276:E443–E449.
    External Resources
  55. Wang ZW, Pan WT, Lee Y, Kakuma T, Zhou YT, Unger RH: The role of leptin resistance in the lipid abnormalities of aging. FASEB J 2001;15:108–114.
    External Resources
  56. Fernandez-Galaz C, Fernandez-Agullo T, Perez C, Peralta S, Arribas C, Andres A, Carrascosa JM, Ros M: Long-term food restriction prevents ageing-associated central leptin resistance in Wistar rats. Diabetologia 2002;45:997–1003.
    External Resources
  57. Gabriely I, Ma XH, Yang XM, Rossetti L, Barzilai N: Leptin resistance during aging is independent of fat mass. Diabetes 2002;51:1016–1021.
    External Resources
  58. Lieb W, Beiser AS, Vasan RS, Tan ZS, Au R, Harris TB, Roubenoff R, Auerbach S, DeCarli C, Wolf PA, Seshadri S: Association of plasma leptin levels with incident Alzheimer disease and MRI measures of brain aging. JAMA 2009;302:2565–2572.
    External Resources
  59. Bluher M: Fat tissue and long life. Obes Facts 2008;1:176–182.
    External Resources
  60. Guarente L, Picard F: Calorie restriction – the SIR2 connection. Cell 2005;120:473–482.
    External Resources
  61. Feige JN, Lagouge M, Canto C, Strehle A, Houten SM, Milne JC, Lambert PD, Mataki C, Elliott PJ, Auwerx J: Specific SIRT1 activation mimics low energy levels and protects against diet-induced metabolic disorders by enhancing fat oxidation. Cell Metab 2008;8:347–358.
    External Resources
  62. Yang Y, Hou H, Haller EM, Nicosia SV, Bai W: Suppression of FOXO1 activity by FHL2 through SIRT1-mediated deacetylation. EMBO J 2005;24:1021–1032.
    External Resources
  63. Brunet A, Sweeney LB, Sturgill JF, Chua KF, Greer PL, Lin Y, Tran H, Ross SE, Mostoslavsky R, Cohen HY, Hu LS, Cheng HL, Jedrychowski MP, Gygi SP, Sinclair DA, Alt FW, Greenberg ME: Stress-dependent regulation of FOXO transcription factors by the SIRT1 deacetylase. Science 2004;303:2011–2015.
    External Resources
  64. Fischer-Posovszky P, Kukulus V, Tews D, Unterkircher T, Debatin KM, Fulda S, Wabitsch M: Resveratrol regulates human adipocyte number and function in a Sirt1-dependent manner. Am J Clin Nutr 2010;92:5–15.
    External Resources

Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Clinical Section / Mini-Review

Received: April 01, 2010
Accepted: September 20, 2010
Published online: December 07, 2010
Issue release date: December 2011

Number of Print Pages: 9
Number of Figures: 1
Number of Tables: 1

ISSN: 0304-324X (Print)
eISSN: 1423-0003 (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/GER

Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer

Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.

Article Tools
Article Details

2012, Vol.58, No. 1

December 2011

Article

Recommend This
TOP