Table 1.
Differences between brown and white adipocytes
| Brown | White | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatomical location | Thyroid, supraclavicular, mediastinal, parathoracical, perirenal | Subcutaneous, mesenteric, retroperitoneal, omental | Cypess et al. (2009), Heaton (1972) |
| Cellular morphology | Numerous, small lipid droplets | Unilocular, large lipid droplets | Heaton (1972) |
| Blood supply and nerve-fibers | Abundant | Low | Heaton (1972), Hatai (1902) |
| Regulatory function | Dissipating energy as heat production | Storing energy as triglycerides | Smith and Roberts (1964) |
| Mitochondria | Abundant | Low | Heaton (1972), Nicholls and Locke (1984) |
| UCP1 | High | Nearly undetectable | Virtanen et al. (2009), Svensson et al. (2011) |
| Biomarkers | UCP1, LHX8, and ZIC1, | MPZL2, HOXC9, EBF3, FBXO31, and LEP, | Cypess et al. (2013) |
| Insulin sensitivity | High | Low | Orava et al. (2011) |
| Activators | Cold, exercise | High-calorie diet | Saito et al. (2009), Orava et al. (2011), Carriere et al. (2014) |
| Obesity and type 2 diabetes | Negative effect | Positive effect | Eger (1954), Himms-Hagen (1979) |