AdipocyteJan 6, 2021

Using Brown and Beige Fat Tissue as a New Treatment Approach for Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Mar 27, 2026

Abstract

Activating (BAT) and inducing the 'browning' of white adipose tissue (WAT) may improve glycolipid metabolism and insulin resistance in obese and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.

White adipose tissue primarily stores excess energy as triglycerides, while brown adipose tissue is involved in thermogenesis and temperature regulation.
White adipocytes can change into , which share characteristics with brown adipocytes, through stimuli like exercise and cold exposure.
Beige adipocytes can also arise from specific progenitor cells within the tissue, aside from transdifferentiation.
Activating BAT and promoting WAT browning could enhance the uptake of glycolipids and lower the need for insulin secretion.
The review highlights the potential role of brown and beige adipose tissues in obesity and T2DM treatment.

Simplified

Mammalian adipose tissue can be divided into two major types, namely, white adipose tissue (WAT) and (BAT). According to classical view, the main function of WAT is to store excess energy in the form of triglycerides, while BAT is a thermogenic tissue that acts a pivotal part in maintaining the core body temperature. White adipocytes display high plasticity and can transdifferentiate into which have many similar morphological and functional properties with brown adipocytes under the stimulations of exercise, cold exposure and other factors. This phenomenon is also known as ''. In addition to transdifferentiation, beige adipocytes can also come from de novo differentiation from tissue-resident progenitors. Activating BAT and inducing browning of WAT can accelerate the intake of glycolipids and reduce the insulin secretion requirement, which may be a new strategy to improve glycolipids metabolism and insulin resistance of obese and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. This review mainly discusses the significance of brown and beige adipose tissues in the treatment of obesity and T2DM, and focuses on the effect of the browning agent on obesity and T2DM, which provides a brand-new theoretical reference for the prevention and treatment of obesity and T2DM.

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Using Brown and Beige Fat Tissue as a New Treatment Approach for Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

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