ArticleDiabetes2009
Brown adipose tissue and seasonal variation in humans.
Article in Diabetes, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 114 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
114 citing papers in PubMed, 271 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changes in circulating bile acid levels during cold exposure are associated with brown adipose tissue in humans: a secondary analysis from the ACTIBATE study.Journal of physiology and biochemistry · 2026Trial
- Preliminary study on the effects of boysenberry juice intake on brown adipose tissue activity in healthy adults.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Relationship between the Daily Rhythm of Distal Skin Temperature and Brown Adipose TissueJournal of biological rhythms · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Alternative Receptor Signaling for the Selective and Multifaceted Regulation of Human Brown Adipocytes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Global trends in human birth and death seasonality reveal climate-related shifts in reproductive timing.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Cross-Talk Between Signaling and Transcriptional Networks Regulating Thermogenesis-Insights into Canonical and Non-Canonical Regulatory Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Brown adipose tissue and tumor presence: a retrospective association analysis considering the role of body mass index.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Article
- Somatostatin regulates the clock sensitivity to evening light.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sex Differences in Seasonal Variation in Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components: A 10-Year National Health Screening Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Effect of β3-adrenergic receptor agonists on [EJNMMI research · 2025Article
- Brown fat thermogenesis and cold adaptation in humans.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2025Review
- Pre-fertilization-origin preservation of brown fat-mediated energy expenditure in humans.Nature metabolism · 2025Article
- Advances in Microneedle Drug Delivery for Obesity: Mechanisms, Applications, and Perspectives.International journal of nanomedicine · 2025Review
- Automated Supraclavicular Brown Adipose Tissue Segmentation in Computed Tomography Using nnU-Net: Integration with TotalSegmentator.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Brown adipose tissue metabolism in women is dependent on ovarian status.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism · 2024Article
- Spatial analysis of the prevalence of abdominal obesity in middle-aged and older adult people in China: exploring the relationship with meteorological factors based on gender differences.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Intense Brown Fat Uptake at FDG PET/CT Induced by Mirabegron.Radiology. Imaging cancer · 2023Article
- Automated segmentation of the human supraclavicular fat depot via deep neural network in water-fat separated magnetic resonance images.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2023Article
- Grape-Seed Proanthocyanidins Modulate Adipose Tissue Adaptations to Obesity in a Photoperiod-Dependent Manner in Fischer 344 Rats.Nutrients · 2023Article
54 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveBrown adipose tissue (BAT) is present in adult humans where it may be important in the prevention of obesity, although the main factors regulating its abundance are not well established. BAT demonstrates seasonal variation relating to ambient temperature and photoperiod in mammals. The objective of our study was therefore to determine whether seasonal variation in BAT activity in humans was more closely related to the prevailing photoperiod or temperature. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsWe studied 3,614 consecutive patients who underwent positron emission tomography followed by computed tomography scans. The presence and location of BAT depots were documented and correlated with monthly changes in photoperiod and ambient temperature.
resultsBAT activity was demonstrated in 167 (4.6%) scans. BAT was demonstrated in 52/724 scans (7.2%) in winter compared with 27/1,067 (2.5%) in summer months (P < 0.00001, chi(2) test). Monthly changes in the occurrence of BAT were more closely related to differences in photoperiod (r(2) = 0.876) rather than ambient temperature (r(2) = 0.696). Individuals with serial scans also demonstrated strong seasonal variation in BAT activity (average standardized uptake value [SUV(max)] 1.5 in July and 9.4 in January). BAT was also more common in female patients (female: n = 107, 7.2%; male: n = 60, 2.8%; P < 0.00001, chi(2) test).
conclusionsOur study demonstrates a very strong seasonal variation in the presence of BAT. This effect is more closely associated with photoperiod than ambient temperature, suggesting a previously undescribed mechanism for mediating BAT function in humans that could now potentially be recruited for the prevention or reversal of obesity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.