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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Author Spotlight: Illuminating New Avenues for Adipose Tissue Metabolism and Disease Prevention
Published on: October 6, 2023
Metformin targets brown adipose tissue in vivo and reduces oxygen consumption in vitro
Peter Breining1,2, Jonas B Jensen3, Elias I Sundelin3
1Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Aims:
To test the hypothesis that brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a metformin target tissue by investigating in vivo uptake of [11 C]-metformin tracer in mice and studying in vitro effects of metformin on cultured human brown adipocytes.
Materials And Methods:
Tissue-specific uptake of metformin was assessed in mice by PET/CT imaging after injection of [11 C]-metformin. Human brown adipose tissue was obtained from elective neck surgery and metformin transporter expression levels in human and murine BAT were determined by qPCR. Oxygen consumption in metformin-treated human brown adipocyte cell models was assessed by Seahorse XF technology.
Results:
Injected [11 C]-metformin showed avid uptake in the murine interscapular BAT depot. Metformin exposure in BAT was similar to hepatic exposure. Non-specific inhibition of the organic cation transporter (OCT) protein by cimetidine administration eliminated BAT exposure to metformin, demonstrating OCT-mediated uptake. Gene expression profiles of OCTs in BAT revealed ample OCT3 expression in both human and mouse BAT. Incubation of a human brown adipocyte cell models with metformin reduced cellular oxygen consumption in a dose-dependent manner.
Conclusion:
These results support BAT as a putative metformin target.
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