Effect of Mineralocorticoid on Brown Fat in Humans with Primary Aldosteronism who will be treated with Surgery

None listed

Brown Fat, unlike ordinary 'white fat', functions like generators, burning fat to produce heat and dissipate energy. Brown fat protects animals against cold and from developing obesity. In humans, it was previously believed that brown fat disappears after infancy. However, research including our own has shown that brown fat is present in most if not all adult humans and is located mainly around the neck. Brown fat activity in humans is detected by a PET scan based on uptake of glucose that is tagged with a small amount of radioactivity. This is a widely used diagnostic method in medicine. Brown fat is more abundant in lean than in obese individuals. Stimulating its activity may be a simple way of controlling body weight in humans. Apart from the cold exposure, very little is known about what regulates brown fat in humans. Our research aims to identify factors that regulates brown fat in humans. Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone produced from the adrenal glands. In animals, it was found that aldosterone suppresses the activity of brown fat. In this study, we will study in humans whether aldosterone suppresses brown fat activity and removal of aldosterone-producing tumor by surgery reactivates brown fat activity, and whether the changes in brown fat activity is associated with changes in energy expenditures.

No related papers found yet.