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Adipose tissue

Adipose tissue thermogenesis is not proportional to temperature

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 21, page 591 (2025)Cite this article

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Research into thermogenesis in humans has often produced highly variable results, both between studies and within participants of each study. A new paper in Cell Metabolism uses a standardized cooling technique to measure the contributions of shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) to endogenous heat production, and to investigate potential sex differences.

The researchers then assessed the contribution of NST from brown adipose tissue (BAT) to cold-induced thermogenesis. The rate of oxidative metabolism in BAT increased upon cold exposure at 30 °C, but no further increase was observed at 26 °C. They also saw no difference in glucose uptake into BAT or BAT levels of triglycerides at 26 °C versus 30 °C. “Very probably, the degree of BAT thermogenesis measured at any given moment is reflective of its current full thermogenic capacity, as long as there is a minimal cold stimulus to activate it,” explains corresponding author Denis Blondin. No sex differences were observed in either BAT oxidative metabolism or glucose uptake in response to cold stimulation.

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  1. Nature Reviews Endocrinology http://www.nature.com/nrendo/

    Olivia Tysoe

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  1. Olivia Tysoe
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Correspondence to Olivia Tysoe.

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Tysoe, O. Adipose tissue thermogenesis is not proportional to temperature. Nat Rev Endocrinol 21, 591 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-025-01163-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-025-01163-3

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