Pharmacological Brown Adipose Tissue Activation in Humans

The prevalence of obesity and associated co-morbidities is rising worldwide in conjunction with significant health and economic burdens. Obesity results from excess energy intake relative to expenditure and requires solutions which redress this imbalance in a sustained manner. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is currently an attractive therapeutic target due to its potential to expend large amounts of energy when activated. The work presented in this thesis is directed to further current knowledge of human adult BAT with a specific focus on its pharmacological activation and therapeutic potential for metabolic diseases.