The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Brown adipose tissue is associated with cardiometabolic health
Open accessAbstract
White fat stores excess energy, whereas brown and beige fat are thermogenic and dissipate energy as heat. Thermogenic adipose tissues markedly improve glucose and lipid homeostasis in mouse models, although the extent to which brown adipose tissue (BAT) influences metabolic and cardiovascular disease in humans is unclear 1,2. Here we retrospectively categorized 134,529 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography scans from 52,487 patients, by presence or absence of BAT, and used propensity score matching to assemble a study cohort. Scans in the study population were initially conducted for indications related to cancer diagnosis, treatment or surveillance, without previous stimulation. We report that individuals with BAT had lower prevalences of cardiometabolic diseases, and the presence of BAT was independently correlated with lower odds of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension. These findings were supported by improved blood glucose, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein values. The beneficial effects of BAT were more pronounced in individuals with overweight or obesity, indicating that BAT might play a role in mitigating the deleterious effects of obesity. Taken together, our findings highlight a potential role for BAT in promoting cardiometabolic health.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Whether exercise can brown WAT in humans, especially through an irisin-mediated pathway, remains controversial.
“Thus, whether exercise can brown WAT in humans, especially through an irisin-mediated pathway, remains controversial55,83,84,90.”
From Exerkines in health, resilience and disease (2022) · cites this paper as [83]
Individuals with PET-CT-defined brown adipose tissue have a lower prevalence of cardiometabolic disease, particularly if they have overweight or obesity.
“individuals with PET-CT-defined BAT had a decreased prevalence of cardiometabolic disease, particularly if they had overweight or obesity83.”
From Exerkines in health, resilience and disease (2022) · cites this paper as [83]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gøtzsche, P. C., & Vandenbroucke, J. P. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61602-x · Cited by 21,320
von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gøtzsche, P. C., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Initiative, F. T. S. (2007) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-147-8-200710160-00010 · Cited by 17,796
Identification and Importance of Brown Adipose Tissue in Adult Humans
Cypess, A. M., Lehman, S., Williams, G., Tal, I., Rodman, D., Goldfine, A. B., Kuo, F. C., Palmer, E. L., Tseng, Y.-H., Doria, A., et al. (2009) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa0810780 · Cited by 4,399
Cold-Activated Brown Adipose Tissue in Healthy Men
van Marken Lichtenbelt, W. D., Vanhommerig, J. W., Smulders, N. M., Drossaerts, J. M. A. F. L., Kemerink, G. J., Bouvy, N. D., Schrauwen, P., & Teule, G. J. J. (2009) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa0808718 · Cited by 3,452
Functional Brown Adipose Tissue in Healthy Adults
Virtanen, K. A., Lidell, M. E., Orava, J., Heglind, M., Westergren, R., Niemi, T., Taittonen, M., Laine, J., Savisto, N.-J., Enerbäck, S., et al. (2009) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa0808949 · Cited by 3,058
Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity
Ward, Z. J., Bleich, S. N., Cradock, A. L., Barrett, J. L., Giles, C. M., Flax, C., Long, M. W., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2019) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsa1909301 · Cited by 2,009
Brown adipose tissue activity controls triglyceride clearance
Bartelt, A., Bruns, O. T., Reimer, R., Hohenberg, H., Ittrich, H., Peldschus, K., Kaul, M. G., Tromsdorf, U. I., Weller, H., Waurisch, C., et al. (2011) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.2297 · Cited by 1,608
Feldmann, H. M., Golozoubova, V., Cannon, B., & Nedergaard, J. (2009) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2008.12.014 · Cited by 1,318
Prdm16 determines the thermogenic program of subcutaneous white adipose tissue in mice
Seale, P., Conroe, H. M., Estall, J. L., Kajimura, S., Frontini, A., Ishibashi, J., Cohen, P., Cinti, S., & Spiegelman, B. M. (2010) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci44271 · Cited by 1,272
Self-citationRecruited brown adipose tissue as an antiobesity agent in humans
Yoneshiro, T., Aita, S., Matsushita, M., Kayahara, T., Kameya, T., Kawai, Y., Iwanaga, T., & Saito, M. (2013) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci67803 · Cited by 966
YARNELL, J. W. G., Baker, I. A., Sweetnam, P. M., Bainton, D., O'Brien, J. R., WHITEHEAD, P. J., & Elwood, P. C. (1991) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.83.3.836 · Cited by 915
Different Metabolic Responses of Human Brown Adipose Tissue to Activation by Cold and Insulin
Orava, J., Nuutila, P., Lidell, M. E., Oikonen, V., Noponen, T., Viljanen, T., Scheinin, M., Taittonen, M. T., Niemi, T. S., Enerbäck, S., et al. (2011) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2011.06.012 · Cited by 745
Brown adipose tissue as a secretory organ
Villarroya, F., Cereijo, R., Villarroya, J., & Giralt, M. (2016) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/nrendo.2016.136 · Cited by 696
Short-term cold acclimation improves insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Hanssen, M. J. W., Hoeks, J., Brans, B. T., van der Lans, A. A. J. J., Schaart, G., van den Driessche, J. J., Jörgensen, J. A., Boekschoten, M. V., Hesselink, M. K. C., Havekes, B., et al. (2015) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/nm.3891 · Cited by 613
Mapping of human brown adipose tissue in lean and obese young men
Leitner, B. P., Huang, S., Brychta, R. J., Duckworth, C. J., Baskin, A. S., McGehee, S., Tal, I., Dieckmann, W., Gupta, G., Kolodny, G. M., et al. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1705287114 · Cited by 530
Brown fat activation reduces hypercholesterolaemia and protects from atherosclerosis development
Berbée, J. F. P., Boon, M. R., Khedoe, P. P. S. J., Bartelt, A., Schlein, C., Worthmann, A., Kooijman, S., Hoeke, G., Mol, I. M., John, C., et al. (2015) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms7356 · Cited by 440
Uptake in supraclavicular area fat ("USA-Fat"): description on 18F-FDG PET/CT.
Cohade, C., Osman, M., Pannu, H. K., & Wahl, R. L. (2003) · PubMed · Cited by 440
Brown Adipose Tissue, Whole‐Body Energy Expenditure, and Thermogenesis in Healthy Adult Men
Yoneshiro, T., Aita, S., Matsushita, M., Kameya, T., Nakada, K., Kawai, Y., & Saito, M. (2010) · Obesity · doi:10.1038/oby.2010.105 · Cited by 428
Chronic mirabegron treatment increases human brown fat, HDL cholesterol, and insulin sensitivity
O’Mara, A. E., Johnson, J. W., Linderman, J. D., Brychta, R. J., McGehee, S., Fletcher, L. A., Fink, Y. A., Kapuria, D., Cassimatis, T. M., Kelsey, N., et al. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci131126 · Cited by 384
Brown Adipose Tissue Activation Is Linked to Distinct Systemic Effects on Lipid Metabolism in Humans
Chondronikola, M., Volpi, E., Børsheim, E., Porter, C. C., Saraf, M. K., Annamalai, P., Yfanti, C., Chao, T., Wong, D., Shinoda, K., et al. (2016) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2016.04.029 · Cited by 341
Chen, K. Y., Cypess, A. M., Laughlin, M. R., Haft, C. R., Hu, P., Bredella, M. A., Enerbäck, S., Kinahan, P. E., Lichtenbelt, W. D. V. M., Lin, F. I., et al. (2016) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2016.07.014 · Cited by 320
The β3-adrenergic receptor agonist mirabegron improves glucose homeostasis in obese humans
Finlin, B. S., Memetimin, H., Zhu, B., Confides, A. L., Vekaria, H. J., Khouli, R. H. E., Johnson, Z., Westgate, P. M., Chen, J., Morris, A. J., et al. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci134892 · Cited by 261
Blondin, D. P., Labbé, S. M., Phoenix, S., Guérin, B., Turcotte, É. E., Richard, D., Carpentier, A. C., & Haman, F. (2014) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2014.283598 · Cited by 248
Brown adipose tissue transplantation improves whole-body energy metabolism
Liu, X., Zheng, Z., Zhu, X., Meng, M., Li, L., Shen, Y., Chi, Q., Wang, D., Zhang, Z., Li, C., et al. (2013) · Cell Research · doi:10.1038/cr.2013.64 · Cited by 242
Blondin, D. P., Labbé, S. M., Noll, C., Kunach, M., Phoenix, S., Guérin, B., Turcotte, É. E., Haman, F., Richard, D., & Carpentier, A. C. (2015) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db14-1651 · Cited by 229
Blondin, D. P., Frisch, F., Phoenix, S., Guérin, B., Turcotte, É. E., Haman, F., Richard, D., & Carpentier, A. C. (2017) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2016.12.005 · Cited by 205
Human brown adipose tissue [15O]O2 PET imaging in the presence and absence of cold stimulus
U-Din, M., Raiko, J. R. H., Saari, T., Kudomi, N., Tolvanen, T., Oikonen, V., Teuho, J., Sipilä, H. T., Savisto, N., Parkkola, R. K., et al. (2016) · European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging · doi:10.1007/s00259-016-3364-y · Cited by 181
Role of Brown Fat in Lipoprotein Metabolism and Atherosclerosis
Hoeke, G., Kooijman, S., Boon, M. R., Rensen, P. C. N., & Berbée, J. F. P. (2016) · Circulation Research · doi:10.1161/circresaha.115.306647 · Cited by 166
Dietary fatty acid metabolism of brown adipose tissue in cold-acclimated men
Blondin, D. P., Tingelstad, H. C., Noll, C., Frisch, F., Phoenix, S., Guérin, B., Turcotte, É. E., Richard, D., Haman, F., & Carpentier, A. C. (2017) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms14146 · Cited by 161
Genomic insights into the causes of type 2 diabetes
Langenberg, C., & Lotta, L. A. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31132-2 · Cited by 149
Assessment of Oxidative Metabolism in Brown Fat Using PET Imaging
Muzik, O., Mangner, T. J., & Granneman, J. G. (2012) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2012.00015 · Cited by 117
Dieli-Conwright, C. M., Wong, L. C., Waliany, S., Bernstein, L., Salehian, B., & Mortimer, J. E. (2016) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/cncr.30104 · Cited by 117
Baláž, M., Becker, A. S., Balážová, L., Straub, L. G., Müller, J., Gashi, G., Maushart, C. I., Sun, W., Dong, H., Moser, C., et al. (2018) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2018.11.017 · Cited by 94
Factors influencing brown fat activation in FDG PET/CT: a retrospective analysis of 15,000+ cases
Steinberg, J. D., Vogel, W. V., & Vegt, E. (2017) · British Journal of Radiology · doi:10.1259/bjr.20170093 · Cited by 75
Brown Fat at PET/CT: Correlation with Patient Characteristics
Cronin, C. G., Prakash, P., Daniels, G. H., Boland, G. W., Kalra, M. K., Halpern, E. F., Palmer, E. L., & Blake, M. A. (2012) · Radiology · doi:10.1148/radiol.12100683 · Cited by 70
A pilot study of FDG PET/CT detects a link between brown adipose tissue and breast cancer
Cao, Q., Hersl, J., La, H., Smith, M. F., Jenkins, J., Goloubeva, O. G., Dilsizian, V., Tkaczuk, K. H. R., Chen, W., & Jones, L. P. (2014) · BMC Cancer · doi:10.1186/1471-2407-14-126 · Cited by 58
Raiko, J. R. H., Orava, J., Savisto, N., & Virtanen, K. A. (2020) · Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology · doi:10.1161/atvbaha.119.313806 · Cited by 54
Ginzac, A., Barres, B., Chanchou, M., Gadéa, É., Molnar, I., Merlin, C., Coudert, B. P., Thivat, É., & Durando, X. (2020) · BMC Cancer · doi:10.1186/s12885-020-6591-3 · Cited by 50
Short-term cooling increases serum triglycerides and small high-density lipoprotein levels in humans
Hoeke, G., Nahon, K. J., Bakker, L. E. H., Norkauer, S., Dinnes, D. L. M., Kockx, M., Lichtenstein, L., Drettwan, D., Reifel-Miller, A. E., Coşkun, T., et al. (2017) · Journal of clinical lipidology · doi:10.1016/j.jacl.2017.04.117 · Cited by 48
Anatomical Grading for Metabolic Activity of Brown Adipose Tissue
Becker, A. S., Nagel, H. W., Wolfrum, C., & Burger, I. A. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149458 · Cited by 24
Gadéa, É., Thivat, É., Merlin, C., Paulon, R., Kwiatkowski, F., Chadeyras, J. B., Coudert, B. P., Boirie, Y., Morio, B., & Durando, X. (2014) · Nutrition and Cancer · doi:10.1080/01635581.2014.948212 · Cited by 12
Brendle, C., Stefan, N., Stef, I., Ripkens, S., Soekler, M., la Fougère, C. J., Nikolaou, K., & Pfannenberg, C. (2019) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37924-6 · Cited by 11
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Exerkines in health, resilience and disease
Chow, L. S., Gerszten, R. E., Taylor, J. M., Pedersen, B. K., van Praag, H., Trappe, S., Febbraio, M. A., Galis, Z. S., Gao, Y., Haus, J. M., et al. (2022) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/s41574-022-00641-2 · Cited by 927
Sex differences in type 2 diabetes
Kautzky-Willer, A., Leutner, M., & Harreiter, J. (2023) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-023-05891-x · Cited by 624
Obesity and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases
Valenzuela, P. L., Carrera-Bastos, P., Castillo-García, A., Lieberman, D. E., Santos-Lozano, A., & Lucia, A. (2023) · Nature Reviews Cardiology · doi:10.1038/s41569-023-00847-5 · Cited by 452
Reassessing human adipose tissue
Cypess, A. M. (2022) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra2032804 · Cited by 404
GIPR agonism mediates weight-independent insulin sensitization by tirzepatide in obese mice
Samms, R. J., Christe, M. E., Collins, K. A. L., Pirro, V., Droz, B. A., Holland, A. K., Friedrich, J. L., Wojnicki, S., Konkol, D. L., Cosgrove, R., et al. (2021) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci146353 · Cited by 256
Exercise Induces Tissue-Specific Adaptations to Enhance Cardiometabolic Health
Ashcroft, S. P., Stocks, B., Egan, B., & Zierath, J. R. (2024) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2023.12.008 · Cited by 149
van Woerden, G., van Veldhuisen, D. J., Westenbrink, B. D., de Boer, R. A., Rienstra, M., & Gorter, T. M. (2022) · European Journal of Heart Failure · doi:10.1002/ejhf.2741 · Cited by 128
Is Glucagon Receptor Activation the Thermogenic Solution for Treating Obesity?
Conceição-Furber, E., Coskun, T., Sloop, K. W., & Samms, R. J. (2022) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.868037 · Cited by 48
Targeting skeletal muscle mitochondrial health in obesity
Pileggi, C. A., Hooks, B. G., McPherson, R., Dent, R. R. M., & Harper, M.-E. (2022) · Clinical Science · doi:10.1042/cs20210506 · Cited by 21
Obesity and Exercise: New Insights and Perspectives
James, N. M., & Stanford, K. I. (2025) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/endrev/bnaf017 · Cited by 20
Metadata
- Authors
- Becher, T., Palanisamy, S., Kramer, D. J., Eljalby, M., Marx, S. J., Wibmer, A. G., Butler, S. D., Jiang, C. S., Vaughan, R., Schöder, H., Mark, A., & Cohen, P.
- Affiliations
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- Rockefeller University (US)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cohen, Paul
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Medicine
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 58-65
- ISSN
- 1078-8956 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-170X
- PMC
- PMC8461455
- OpenAlex
- W3120832178
- Cited by
- 743
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 119 · 2025: 145 · 2024: 151 · 2023: 125 · 2022: 124 · 2021: 76
- FWCI
- 74.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Nature Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- American Diabetes Association (1-17-ACE-17)
- Sinsheimer Foundation
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR001866)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Disease and Adiposity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Keywords
- brown adipose tissue, cardiometabolic health, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, obesity, thermogenesis, 18F-FDG PET/CT, glucose homeostasis, lipid homeostasis
- MeSH terms
- Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography, Blood Glucose, Adipose Tissue, Brown, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Humans, Retrospective Studies, Fluorodeoxyglucose F18, Dyslipidemias
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
