Brown Fat Thermogenesis in Body Temperature and Body Fat Regulation : Lessons from Human Studies

Abstract

Mammals including humans have two types of fat tissue, white and brown adipose tissues. White fat is a site for energy storage, while brown fat is a specific site for non-shivering thermogenesis, thereby being involved in the regulation of body temperature in response to cold exposure and also to inflammatory and stressful stimuli. As brown fat also contributes to the regulation of whole-body energy expenditure and body fat content depending on its thermogenic activity, it gathers much attention as a therapeutic target for obesity. Here, I review our current understanding about human brown fat obtained from prospective studies using FDG-PET.