Fig. 4. COVID-19 stimulates adipose browning in human patients with severe COVID-19.
a, Histological and immunohistochemical analyses of sWAT, vWAT and supraclavicular BAT of autopsied fresh tissue samples from patients who died of COVID-19 infection. Non-infected patients who died of other diseases served as controls. Adipose tissues were stained with H&E, PERI, UCP1 and COX4. Tissue sections were counterstained with DAPI (blue). UCP1- and COX4-positive signals in sWAT, vWAT and BAT were quantified (n = 8 random fields per group). b, Quantification of mRNA levels of UCP1 and COX4 in human sWAT, vWAT and BAT (n = 4 samples per group). Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. Statistical analysis was performed using two-sided unpaired Student’s t-tests. Scale bar, 50 μm.