From white to brown – and the role of insulin

Obesity and its consequences, such as insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, is increasing in importance, its prevalence reaching 35% of adults being overweight and 11% obese. The recent discovery of thermogenically active adipose tissue in adult humans, which is able to dissipate excess energy creating heat, has drawn attention to research on brown adipose tissue as well as so called brite adipocytes, that arise in white adipose depots upon cold exposure. A question of interest is whether thermogenically active adipose tissue differs from white fat regarding insulin sensitivity or vice versa depends on func…