Brown fat cells may harbour diabetes, obesity cure

Washington – A team led by Indian origin researchers has identified brown fat stem cells in adult humans which they believe may lead to new treatments for heart and endocrine disorders.

According to Amit N. Patel, from University of Utah School of Medicine, adults generally have an abundance of white fat in their bodies, which leads to weight gain and cardiovascular disease but this is not seen in brown fat. As people age the amount of white fat increases and brown fat decreases which contributes to diabetes and high cholesterol.

“If you have more brown fat, you weigh less, you’re metabolically efficient, and you have fewer instances of diabetes and high cholesterol. The unique identification of human brown fat stem cells in the chest of patients aged from 28 to 84 years is profound. We were able to isolate the human stem cells, culture and grow them, and implant them into a pre-human model which has demonstrated positive effects on glucose levels,” Patel said.

The new discovery of finding brown fat stem cells may help in identifying potential drugs that may increase the body’s own ability to make brown fat or find novel ways to directly implant the brown fat stem cells into patients.

The study was published in journal Stem Cells.