About this Research Topic
Adipose tissue is a dynamic organ that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of energy storage and thermogenesis and influences many physiological processes such as glucose and lipid metabolism, blood pressure homeostasis, inflammatory conditions, and immune responses.
Two major adipose tissue phenotypes are described, white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). White adipocytes are characterized by a large lipid droplet, while possessing a small number of intracellular organelles, such as mitochondria, and a lack of metabolic activity. WAT maintains the body’s energy homeostasis by storing energy in the form of triglycerides and by acting as an endocrine organ that secretes cytokines and adipokines. Adipokines such as leptin and adiponectin, in particular, regulate insulin signaling, fatty acid oxidation, and chemoattraction of immune cells. In contrast, BAT is characterized by adipocytes containing multiple small lipid droplets, rich in mitochondria and specialized in thermogenesis.
Pathologies involving adipose tissue have wide genotypic diversity and are nearly always associated with the presence of other related metabolic imbalances.
Unhealthy expansion of adipose tissue results in inflammation, fibrosis, impaired angiogenesis and lipolysis, decreased adipokines expression and nutrient availability. A more complex condition of metabolic syndrome is associated with obesity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), functional alterations of adipose tissue and intestinal microbiota, and cardiovascular disease.
In many pathological conditions, both closely related to adipose tissue and comorbidities affecting other tissues and organs, characteristics of a complex metabolic alteration picture, different molecular pathways are involved: for example, the browning process seems to play a key role. WAT and BAT undergo dynamic adaptive changes in response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli or deficiencies ensuring dynamic control of the adipocyte phenotype. WAT can partially modify its structure towards a beige phenotype, with middle characteristics compared to BAT and WAT, partially changing its function and capabilities. The process of acquiring a thermogenic phenotype, closer to BAT, is called browning.
The modulation of the browning process and other pathways closely correlated with pathophysiological changes of adipose tissue seem to represent a crucial step in metabolic homeostasis and therefore an interesting and viable route for the management of metabolic pathologies and related comorbidities. The in-depth study of endogenous or exogenous modulations of different pathways involved in metabolic alteration represents a way to go and a goal to achieve.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses focused on the pathophysiology of pathological changes of adipose tissue and aimed at evaluating how the exogenous or endogenous modulation of different molecular pathways involved, as for example the browning process, could be used as a viable pharmacological strategy in the management of pathologies affecting adipose tissue and other closely related tissues and organs.
Pharmacological, phytotherapeutic, nutraceutical and food approaches for the modulation of different molecular pathways involved in metabolic pathologies such as obesity and metabolic syndrome but also comorbidities such as cardiovascular alterations, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus are all aspects perfectly on topic.
Two major adipose tissue phenotypes are described, white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). White adipocytes are characterized by a large lipid droplet, while possessing a small number of intracellular organelles, such as mitochondria, and a lack of metabolic activity. WAT maintains the body’s energy homeostasis by storing energy in the form of triglycerides and by acting as an endocrine organ that secretes cytokines and adipokines. Adipokines such as leptin and adiponectin, in particular, regulate insulin signaling, fatty acid oxidation, and chemoattraction of immune cells. In contrast, BAT is characterized by adipocytes containing multiple small lipid droplets, rich in mitochondria and specialized in thermogenesis.
Pathologies involving adipose tissue have wide genotypic diversity and are nearly always associated with the presence of other related metabolic imbalances.
Unhealthy expansion of adipose tissue results in inflammation, fibrosis, impaired angiogenesis and lipolysis, decreased adipokines expression and nutrient availability. A more complex condition of metabolic syndrome is associated with obesity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), functional alterations of adipose tissue and intestinal microbiota, and cardiovascular disease.
In many pathological conditions, both closely related to adipose tissue and comorbidities affecting other tissues and organs, characteristics of a complex metabolic alteration picture, different molecular pathways are involved: for example, the browning process seems to play a key role. WAT and BAT undergo dynamic adaptive changes in response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli or deficiencies ensuring dynamic control of the adipocyte phenotype. WAT can partially modify its structure towards a beige phenotype, with middle characteristics compared to BAT and WAT, partially changing its function and capabilities. The process of acquiring a thermogenic phenotype, closer to BAT, is called browning.
The modulation of the browning process and other pathways closely correlated with pathophysiological changes of adipose tissue seem to represent a crucial step in metabolic homeostasis and therefore an interesting and viable route for the management of metabolic pathologies and related comorbidities. The in-depth study of endogenous or exogenous modulations of different pathways involved in metabolic alteration represents a way to go and a goal to achieve.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses focused on the pathophysiology of pathological changes of adipose tissue and aimed at evaluating how the exogenous or endogenous modulation of different molecular pathways involved, as for example the browning process, could be used as a viable pharmacological strategy in the management of pathologies affecting adipose tissue and other closely related tissues and organs.
Pharmacological, phytotherapeutic, nutraceutical and food approaches for the modulation of different molecular pathways involved in metabolic pathologies such as obesity and metabolic syndrome but also comorbidities such as cardiovascular alterations, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus are all aspects perfectly on topic.
Keywords: Adipose tissue, white adipose tissue, beige adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue, browning, metabolic syndrome, metabolism, obesity, comorbidities, drug discovery, drug repurposing
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