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Author Spotlight: Insights into Cardiometabolic Diseases with Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Microvasculature Studies
Published on: April 5, 2024
889
Interplay between the brain and adipose tissue: a metabolic conversation.
Francisco Díaz-Castro1,2,3, Eugenia Morselli4, Marc Claret5,6,7
1Neuronal Control of Metabolism (NeuCoMe) Laboratory, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
EMBO Reports
|November 18, 2024
Summary
The brain and adipose tissue communicate bidirectionally to regulate metabolism. Understanding these complex interactions, including nervous and novel pathways, is key to treating metabolic disorders like obesity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroendocrinology
- Metabolic Regulation
- Adipose Tissue Biology
Background:
- The central nervous system (CNS) and adipose tissue engage in intricate bidirectional communication essential for metabolic homeostasis.
- The hypothalamus integrates sensory signals to control appetite and energy balance, influencing white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) via neural pathways.
- Adipose tissue functions as both an energy store and an endocrine organ, releasing hormones that impact brain function and overall metabolic health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the roles of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in modulating adipose tissue functions like lipolysis and thermogenesis.
- To explore emerging communication channels between the brain and adipose tissue, such as extracellular vesicles and neuro-mesenchymal units.
- To examine how disruptions in brain-adipose tissue signaling contribute to metabolic diseases and to highlight potential therapeutic targets.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on neuroendocrine and metabolic signaling pathways.
- Analysis of the roles of autonomic innervation in adipose tissue regulation.
- Examination of novel intercellular communication mechanisms and their implications in metabolic health.
Main Results:
- Sympathetic and parasympathetic innervations critically regulate WAT and BAT activity, influencing lipolysis and thermogenesis.
- Adipose tissue secretes hormones that feedback to the brain, affecting appetite and metabolic control.
- Extracellular vesicles and neuro-mesenchymal units represent newly identified pathways complicating brain-adipose tissue communication.
Conclusions:
- The brain-adipose tissue axis is a complex regulatory network vital for metabolic health.
- Dysfunctional communication within this axis is implicated in obesity and type-2 diabetes.
- Targeting these neural and endocrine pathways offers promising therapeutic avenues for metabolic disorders.
Keywords:
AdipokinesBrainBrown Adipose TissueSympathetic and Parasympathetic InnervationWhite Adipose TissueMore Related Videos
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