Transplants of brown fat tissue reverses diabetes in mice, according to Vanderbilt University research. Brown adipose (fat) burns white fat to help warm the body when exposed to cold. Both brown and white fat secrete adiponectin, leptin, and IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), hormones that are important in diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, and can cause chronic inflammation and loss of white fat tissue. Diabetes was reversed less than two weeks after mice with diabetes received transplants of embryonic brown fat tissue under the skin. Blood glucose normalized, inflammation decreased, and white fat regenerated, possibly due to the IGF-1 secreted by both the brown and white fat, and the anti-inflammatory properties of the brown fat. The mice gained weight, but did not become obese. “When brown adipose tissue is present, white adipose tissue seems to accumulate fat less,” says study author Subhadra Gunawardana. “This has implications for obesity therapy.”
