Mitochondrial Actions for Fat Browning and Energy Expenditure in White Adipose Tissue

Obesity can be defined as the disruption in the balance between fuel intake and energy expenditure in favor of energy conservation.Together with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), these are the two of the most prevalent diseases affecting modern societies, arising mostly by changes in eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle associated with poorly known genetic determinants.Obesity predisposes to the so-called metabolic syndrome, which includes inflammation, hypertension, T2DM and cardiovascular diseases [1].Obesity is imposing an increasingly heavy burden on the world's population in rich and poor nations alike, with almost 30 percent of people globally now either obese (BMI ≥ 30) or overweight (BMI ≥ 25) [2].In fact, the number of overweight and obese people rose from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013 [2].Recently, obesity and metabolic syndrome were associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and deranged regulation of metabolic genes [3].Interestingly, mitochondria of obese individuals seem to be different from those of lean individuals.Mitochondria from obese individuals display lower energy-generating capacity, less defined inner membranes and reduced fatty acid oxidation (FAO) [4].