Revisiting adipose thermogenesis for delaying aging and age-related diseases: Opportunities and challenges

Adipose tissue undergoes significant changes in structure, composition, and function with age including altered adipokine secretion, decreased adipogenesis, altered immune cell profile and increased inflammation. Consid-ering the role of adipose tissue in whole-body energy homeostasis, age-related dysfunction in adipose metabolism could potentially contribute to an increased risk for metabolic diseases and accelerate the onset of other age -related diseases. Increasing cellular energy expenditure in adipose tissue, also referred to as thermogenesis, has emerged as a promising strategy to improve adipose metabolism and treat obesity-related metabolic disor-ders. However, translating this strategy to the aged population comes with several challenges such as decreased thermogenic response and the paucity of safe pharmacological agents to activate thermogenesis. This mini -review aims to discuss the current body of knowledge on aging and thermogenesis and highlight the unex-plored opportunities (cellular mechanisms and secreted factors) to target thermogenic mechanisms for delaying aging and age-related diseases. Finally, we also discuss the emerging role of thermogenic adipocytes in healthspan and lifespan extension.

Automated summary

Adipose tissue undergoes significant changes with age, including altered secretion of adipokines, decreased adipogenesis, altered immune cell profile, and increased inflammation. Dysfunctional adipose metabolism in aging may contribute to a higher risk of metabolic diseases. Increasing thermogenesis in adipose tissue has shown potential in improving metabolism and treating obesity-related disorders, but challenges exist in applying this strategy to the elderly population. This review summarizes the current understanding of aging and thermogenesis and explores opportunities to target thermogenic mechanisms for delaying aging and age-related diseases, as well as the role of thermogenic adipocytes in healthspan and lifespan extension.