Author(s)

Naofumi Shiomi, Marie Ito, Keiko Watanabe

School of Human Sciences, Kobe College, Nishinomiya, Japan.

Beige adipocytes are believed to have a high ability to consume fat. As such, compounds capable of inducing the development of beige adipocytes may be useful as drugs for anti-obesity and anti-type 2 diabetes. However, the true nature of beige adipocytes remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to confirm whether or not white adipocyte can differentiate to beige adipocytes and to clarify the characteristics of beige adipocytes. We first searched for an inducer of beige adipocytes and found that kikyo extract, a component of bofu-tsusho-san, was a strong inducer. We then attempted to prove that beige adipocytes could be induced from white adipocytes. Second, we clarified the characteristics of beige adipocytes induced from white adipocytes. The results suggested that beige adipocytes were high-performance adipocytes with a greater ability to synthesize and consume triglyceride and take up glucose than white adipocytes.

Beige Adipocyte, UCP1, GLUT4, Diabetes, Obesity, Insulin Resistance

Shiomi, N. , Ito, M. and Watanabe, K. (2016) Characteristics of Beige Adipocytes Induced from White Adipocytes by Kikyo Extract. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 9, 342-353. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2016.97029.