Advances in the research on the relationship between brown adipose tissue and metabolism in burn and trauma / 中华烧伤杂志

Hypermetabolism and insulin resistance are prominent features of trauma including burn injury, surgery, and infection. Hypermetabolism results in insufficiency in energy supply, which induces organ function lesion, immune suppression, high infection rate, and wound healing delay, thus exerting a strong impact on patients' quality of life and prognosis. The molecular mechanism in the occurrence and development of hypermetabolism is very complicated, and it has not been fully elucidated. Recently, brown adipose tissue (BAT) was found to be present not only in rodents but also in humans, and its activity was associated with resting metabolic rate. BAT may become the new target of research in prevention and control of metabolic disorder.