Cold acclimation recruits human brown fat and increases nonshivering thermogenesis

In recent years, it has been shown that humans have active brown adipose (BAT) depots, raising the question of whether activation and recruitment can be a target to counterbalance the current obesity pandemic. Here, we that a 10-day cold acclimation protocol in humans increases BAT activity parallel with an increase in nonshivering thermogenesis (NST). No sex in BAT presence and activity were found either before or after cold Respiration measurements in permeabilized fibers and isolated revealed no significant contribution of skeletal muscle mitochondrial to the increased NST. Based on cell-specific markers and on uncoupling (characteristic of both BAT and beige/brite cells), this study did not "browning" of abdominal subcutaneous white adipose tissue upon cold The observed physiological acclimation is in line with the subjective temperature sensation; upon cold acclimation, the subjects judged the warmer, felt more comfortable in the cold, and reported less shivering. combined results suggest that a variable indoor environment with exposures might be an acceptable and economic manner to increase energy expenditure and may contribute to counteracting the current obesity