Brown Fat News and Research

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Exercise-induced irisin could regulate bone metabolism by autocrine mechanisms

Two weeks of voluntary wheel running induces higher expression of irisin--a fat-burning hormone that is released during exercise--in bone tissue in mice.

3 Mar 2017

Study describes method to engineer brown adipose tissue from white fat-derived stem cells

Researchers have demonstrated the potential to engineer brown adipose tissue, which has therapeutic promise to treat metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, from white adipose-derived stem cells.

3 Mar 2017

Brown fat in humans three times greater than previously known, TUM study shows

Compared to white fat, brown body fat burns through energy at an extraordinary rate. However, until now the proportion of brown fat in humans was thought to be quite small.

1 Mar 2017

Researchers reveal how inflammatory responses block fat cell conversion

Scientists at the University of Bonn have shown in mice that excess pounds can simply be melted away by converting unwanted white fat cells into energy-consuming brown slimming cells.

3 Jan 2017

Signaling pathway in fat cells may provide key to better treatments for obesity, Penn research finds

A signaling pathway in fat cells may one day provide the key to better treatments for obesity, according to new research by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

6 Dec 2016

Epigenetic enzyme plays key role in maintaining metabolic properties of brown fat, research shows

In mammals, three types of adipose tissues exist. White adipocytes are mainly located in the abdominal and subcutaneous areas of the body and highly adapted to store excess energy.

31 Oct 2016

Activation of chemical with ER-β may help reduce obesity by converting white fat to brown fat

New research, published online in The FASEB Journal, suggests that activation of a chemical called Beta-LGND2 by the estrogen receptor Beta (ER-Beta) reduces obesity and metabolic diseases in mice by converting bad fat (white fat) to good fat (brown fat).

17 Oct 2016

Texas Tech researcher examines how healthy brown fat can be activated in humans

Come fall, being a bear starts to look better and better. They load up on fat, sleep the winter away and wake up hungry.

1 Sep 2016

UCSF researchers identify new strategy to cultivate beneficial energy-burning fat

UC San Francisco researchers studying beige fat — a calorie-burning tissue that can help to ward off obesity and diabetes — have discovered a new strategy to cultivate this beneficial blubber.

25 Aug 2016

Scientists explore ways to make fat cells function better during obesity

A high-fat diet makes your fat cells larger, inflamed and dysfunctional, putting you at increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

14 Jul 2016

Cells grown from pluripotent stem cells can pair with heart muscle cells to stimulate contractions

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that a type of lab-grown human nerve cells can partner with heart muscle cells to stimulate contractions.

17 Jun 2016

Study reveals males and females exhibit different stress responses

How does stress - which, among other things, causes our bodies to divert resources from non-essential functions - affect the basic exchange of materials that underlies our everyday life? Weizmann Institute of Science researchers investigated this question by looking at a receptor in the brains of mice, and they came up with a surprising answer.

27 May 2016

McGill researchers discover role of folliculin protein in regulating activity of fat cells

Researchers have uncovered a new molecular pathway for stimulating the body to burn fat - a discovery that could help fight obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

17 May 2016

Bonn researchers identify new technique to measure activity of brown fat cells

Brown fat cells can burn fat to generate heat. University of Bonn researchers have discovered a new method to measure the activity of brown fat cells in humans and mice. The researchers showed that microRNA-92a can be used as an indirect measure for the activity of energy consuming brown fat cells. They showed that a small blood sample was sufficient. Results were published in "Nature Communications," a well-known scientific journal.

27 Apr 2016

Brown fat may help to keep blood sugar steady in adults

Australian scientists have shown that brown fat - a special type of fat that burns energy to produce heat - may also help to keep blood sugar steady in adults.

10 Mar 2016

Scientists discover molecular switch that can burn off excess pounds

The number of overweight people is increasing worldwide -- and thus the risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

10 Mar 2016

Inhibitors that activate brown fat may help treat diabetes, metabolic disorders

In recent decades, obesity has become a global problem. The disease goes hand in hand with a dramatic increase in the proportion of body fat. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the Cologne Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases at the University of Cologne have now succeeded in inhibiting a protein in mice that hampers activation of the useful "brown fat" in obese mice. When treated with inhibitors against this protein, obese mice exhibited a notable improvement of their glucose metabolism.

2 Mar 2016

Researchers map cellular pathway that may lead to treatments for obesity, diabetes

Control over obesity and diabetes may be one step closer thanks to a Hiroshima University study in fat tissue.

26 Feb 2016

Beiging of white fat could be harnessed to combat diabetes

Researchers are getting closer to learning how to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells, in a process called "beiging," to bring down blood sugar levels and fight diabetes. The team, led by Joseph Baur, PhD, an assistant professor of Physiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published their findings this month in the journal Diabetes.

18 Feb 2016

Beige-fat formation could be harnessed to fight diabetes

Researchers are getting closer to learning how to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells, in a process called "beiging," to bring down blood sugar levels and fight diabetes.

17 Feb 2016