Journal Article Review Ppublish
PubMed: 39566546 DOI: 10.3803/EnM.2024.2121
Brown Fat and Metabolic Health: The Diverse Functions of Dietary Components.
Endocrinol Metab (Seoul) 39(6):839-846
Authors: Zachary Brown, Takeshi Yoneshiro
Affiliations
- Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Division of Molecular Physiology and Metabolism, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
- Division of Metabolic Medicine, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
Brown and beige adipocytes utilize a variety of substrates for cold-induced thermogenesis, contributing to the clearance of metabolites in circulation and, consequently, metabolic health. Food-derived compounds that exhibit agonistic activity at temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential channels may serve as cold mimics to elicit thermogenesis and substrate utilization in brown adipose tissue (BAT). In addition to fatty acids and glucose, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are essential amino acids obtained from foods, are actively catabolized in BAT through mitochondrial BCAA carrier (MBC). The relative contribution of BCAAs to fueling the tricarboxylic acid cycle as a substrate (i.e., anaplerosis) is estimated to be relatively small, yet BCAA catabolism in BAT exerts a critical role in systemic insulin sensitivity. The nature of this apparent tension remained unclear until the recent discovery that active BCAA catabolism in BAT through MBC is critical for the synthesis of metabolites such as glutathione, which is delivered to the liver to improve hepatic insulin sensitivity through redox homeostasis. Novel mechanistic insights into the control of BAT function and systemic metabolism reveal the therapeutic potential of food-derived compounds for improving metabolic flexibility and insulin sensitivity.
MeSH
Thermogenesis, Insulin, Amino Acids, Cold Temperature, Liver, Food, Adipose Tissue, Brown, Endocrine System Diseases