Some aspects of fatty acid metabolism in brown adipose tissue

The action of catecholamines on white and brown adipose tissue is compared. The available evidence indicates that lipolysis is initiated in both tissues by hormonal action. There are, however, some differences in the behavior of the lipolytic process in the two tissues in their response to theophylline, nicotinic acid and insulin which remain unexplained. It would appear that the release of free fatty acids triggers the stimulation of O2 consumption in both tissues. In brown adipose tissue no evidence has been obtained to indicate that the increased O2 consumption is geared to the production of ATP for the purpose of reesterification of the released free fatty acids, as is the case in white adipose tissue.