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Review
. 2021 Apr 13:12:652444.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.652444. eCollection 2021.

Sex Differences in Brown Adipose Tissue Function: Sex Hormones, Glucocorticoids, and Their Crosstalk

Kasiphak Kaikaew  1 , Aldo Grefhorst  2 , Jenny A Visser  3
Affiliations
Review

Sex Differences in Brown Adipose Tissue Function: Sex Hormones, Glucocorticoids, and Their Crosstalk

Kasiphak Kaikaew et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Excessive fat accumulation in the body causes overweight and obesity. To date, research has confirmed that there are two types of adipose tissue with opposing functions: lipid-storing white adipose tissue (WAT) and lipid-burning brown adipose tissue (BAT). After the rediscovery of the presence of metabolically active BAT in adults, BAT has received increasing attention especially since activation of BAT is considered a promising way to combat obesity and associated comorbidities. It has become clear that energy homeostasis differs between the sexes, which has a significant impact on the development of pathological conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Sex differences in BAT activity may contribute to this and, therefore, it is important to address the underlying mechanisms that contribute to sex differences in BAT activity. In this review, we discuss the role of sex hormones in the regulation of BAT activity under physiological and some pathological conditions. Given the increasing number of studies suggesting a crosstalk between sex hormones and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in metabolism, we also discuss this crosstalk in relation to sex differences in BAT activity.

Keywords: androgens; brown adipocytes; estrogens; glucocorticoids; progesterone; sex characteristics; sex chromosomes; steroid receptors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Non-shivering thermogenesis and lipid metabolism in brown adipocytes. Acute thermogenic responses by activating β-adrenergic receptors (β-ADR) which hence stimulate (1) intracellular lipolysis, (2) fatty acid uptake, and (3) glucose uptake. Altogether, these processes increase the availability of intracellular free fatty acids for thermogenesis by mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). Prolonged cold exposure also induces adaptive thermogenesis by (4) upregulating UCP1 mRNA expression.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sex hormones, glucocorticoids, and their crosstalk in BAT regulation. Estrogens stimulate whereas androgens inhibit brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity directly and indirectly via the brain. Glucocorticoids directly inhibit BAT activity and androgens potentiate this inhibition. However, the effect of progesterone requires further studies. A, androgens; E, estrogens; GC, glucocorticoids; P, progesterone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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