In a series of studies on obesity, scientists in China have found that transplantation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) from donor animals reduced weight gain in mice.

"These results may open new avenues to develop a novel treatment option to target obesity and its related diseases such as diabetes," said lead researcher Wanzhu Jin, PhD, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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In earlier research conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, BAT transplantation was shown to reduce body weight in  mice with high-fat diets. The  research is the first to show the same outcome in mice genetically predisposed to become obese; it is also the first to link BAT transplantation with endogenous brown fat activity.

"The results of the current study show that transplantation of BAT reduced adiposity and improved glucose homeostasis ... by significantly increasing energy expenditure," the researchers wrote. "These beneficial effects were most likely mediated by the enhancement of endogenous BAT activity."

Leptin deficient mice, which are widely used for the study of obesity-induced diabetes, have a lower metabolic rate and hypothermia due to a defect in BAT function, according to the researchers.

To find out if BAT transplantation could reverse these characteristics, the researchers transplanted brown fat from six-week-old mice into the dorsal subcutaneous region of age and sex matched obese mice.

The BAT transplantation mice were found to gain less weight than sham-operated control mice. The difference was seen as early as three weeks after transplantation, and the trend continued through 12 weeks after transplantation.

Researchers found an 11% decrease in total body fat percentage in the BAT transplant mice compared to the control mice. They also found that activation of endogenous BAT, and not transplanted BAT, was primarily responsible for the improved metabolic profile seen in the transplanted mice.

"Increasing evidence suggests that BAT might serve as a secretory organ," the researchers wrote. "Similar to white adipose tissue, BAT could synthesize and secret numerous hormones, such as FGF21, to regulate the whole body energy metabolism."

The researchers also found that BAT transplantation reversed diabetes in type 1 and diet-induced obesity mice. This suggests that BAT secretes adipokines that work through insulin-independent pathways.

"As an endocrine organ, BAT could serve as a fascinating new potential therapeutic target for obesity and its related diseases," the researchers wrote. "This is the first study showing that BAT transplantation enhances the activity of endogenous BAT, eventually leading to the improvement of whole body energy metabolism."

TagsBrown Fat Injections Reverse Weight Gain in Obese Mice, obesity, brown adipose tissue, brown fat, Wanzhu Jin, high-fat diets