The Physiology of Human Brown Adipose Tissue
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Summary
Brown fat is a type of fat, found in both children and adults, which can produce heat and regulate the body's metabolism and energy use. White fat is the more common type of fat which is used to store extra calories. Understanding more about differences between brown and white fat may allow us to develop new approaches to improve the body's metabolism.
Description
The overarching goal of this study, is to map fat (adipose) tissue differences in humans. The investigators will probe multiple aspects of fat cell (adipocyte) identity by integrating quantitative chemical imaging, single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing (sc and snRNAseq), and site-specific collection of adipocytes and adipocyte precursors. Deidentified data from these studies will be submitted to the Human Cell Atlas. The investigators anticipate that these studies will ultimately increase understanding of mechanisms by which fat (adipose) tissue regulates systemic metabolism (energy t…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–75 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion criteria: 1\. Healthy participants between age 18 and 75 years undergoing planned clinically indicated procedure at BIDMC. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 40 kg/m2 2. History of any local or systemic infectious disease with fever or requiring antibiotic within four weeks of drug administration; 3. Diabetes, either previously diagnosed or hemoglobin A1c greater than or equal to 6.5% 4. Use of oral or parenteral corticosteroids (epidural permitted) or other medication known to cause insulin resistance in the previous 6 weeks. 5. Willingness to p…
Interventions
- ProcedureFat biopsy
The fat biopsy is performed during a scheduled procedure at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Routine preoperative procedures will be followed, including local anesthesia (numbing a particular region of the body) or general anesthesia (being put to sleep). Adipose tissue will be sampled from different depots depending on the procedure. For example, the surgeon will collect adipose tissue from the neck and supraclavicular depots from cervical spine, thyroid, and parathyroid procedures; perinephric fat from adrenalectomies, omental fat from abdominal procedures, and paraspinal fat from lumbar spine procedures. Up to 5 pieces of fat tissue weighing about three to six grams will be removed. All other aspects of the surgical procedure will proceed as planned. Samples will be prepared for subsequent laboratory analysis.
- Diagnostic TestBlood sampling
A blood sample will be collected in the fasting state either during preoperative testing or in the preoperative area on the day of planned procedure for measurement of adipose functional markers (leptin, adiponectin) and insulin resistance (insulin, C-peptide), and measures of glycemia (glucose, hemoglobin A1c).
- GeneticBlood sample for DNA analysis
Targeted resequencing of DNA to identify variants associated with adipose phenotypes will be performed.
Location
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterBoston, Massachusetts