Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, 47500, Malaysia
  • 2 School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, 47500, Malaysia
  • 3 School of Physical Sciences, Ingram Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NH, United Kingdom
  • 4 Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, 94300, Malaysia
  • 5 School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, 47500, Malaysia. Electronic address: EngHwa.Wong@taylors.edu.my
Biochimie, 2021 May;184:26-39.
PMID: 33548390 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2021.01.015

Abstract

Brown and beige adipose tissues are the primary sites for adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis. Although they have been known principally for their thermogenic effects, in recent years, it has emerged that, just like white adipose tissue (WAT), brown and beige adipose tissues also play an important role in the regulation of metabolic health through secretion of various brown adipokines (batokines) in response to various physiological cues. These secreted batokines target distant organs and tissues such as the liver, heart, skeletal muscles, brain, WAT, and perform various local and systemic functions in an autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine manner. Brown and beige adipose tissues are therefore now receiving increasing levels of attention with respect to their effects on various other organs and tissues. Identification of novel secreted factors by these tissues may help in the discovery of drug candidates for the treatment of various metabolic disorders such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, skeletal deformities, cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia. In this review, we comprehensively describe the emerging secretory role of brown/beige adipose tissues and the metabolic effects of various brown/beige adipose tissues secreted factors on other organs and tissues in endocrine/paracrine manners, and as well as on brown/beige adipose tissue itself in an autocrine manner. This will provide insights into understanding the potential secretory role of brown/beige adipose tissues in improving metabolic health.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.