Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37740598›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of biological anthropology2024

When the cold gets under your skin: Evidence for brown adipose tissue activity in Samoan adults.

Alexandra Niclou, Lupesina Vesi, Maria Arorae, New Caledonia Naseri, Kima Faasalele Savusa, Take Naseri, James P DeLany, Stephen T McGarvey, Anna C Rivara, Cara Ocobock

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of biological anthropology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Neandertal Cold Adaptation: Technological, Anatomical, and Physiological Responses to Cold Stress in One of Our Closest Fossil Relatives.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
    Article
  2. Indication of mixed glucose and fatty acid use by inferred brown adipose tissue activity in Samoans.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2024
    Article
  3. To the extreme! How biological anthropology can inform exercise physiology in extreme environments.Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology · 2023
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Alexandra NiclouPennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0130-8800
Lupesina VesiObesity, Lifestyle and Genetic Adaptations (OLaGA) Study Group, Apia, Samoa.
Maria AroraeObesity, Lifestyle and Genetic Adaptations (OLaGA) Study Group, Apia, Samoa.
New Caledonia NaseriObesity, Lifestyle and Genetic Adaptations (OLaGA) Study Group, Apia, Samoa.
Kima Faasalele SavusaObesity, Lifestyle and Genetic Adaptations (OLaGA) Study Group, Apia, Samoa.
Take NaseriSamoa Ministry of Health, Apia, Samoa.
James P DeLanyAdventHealth Orlando, Translational Research Institute, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Stephen T McGarveyInternational Health Institute & Departments of Epidemiology and Anthropology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1233-6970
Anna C RivaraDepartment of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Cara OcobockDepartment of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6949-2029
National University of Samoa · WSAdventHealth Orlando · USPennington Biomedical Research Center · USRhode Island Department of Health · USUniversity of Notre Dame · USYale University · US

Funding

Training in Obesity ResearchT32DK064584 · NIDDK · LSU PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CTR · PI CORBY K MARTIN, Christopher D Morrison · 2003 to 2026
$5.3M
Impact of the obesity-risk CREBRF p.Arg457Gln variant on energy expenditure, intake, and substrate utilization in SamoansR01HL140570 · NHLBI · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI DELANY, JAMES P, MCGARVEY, STEPHEN T. · 2018 to 2021
$3.1M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL140570NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK064584NIH HHS R01HL140570
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesBrown adipose tissue (BAT) is a heat-producing organ aiding nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) during cold stress. Due to its potential cold-adaptive role BAT has been predominantly studied in cold and temperate climate populations, but not among warm-climate adults. This work explores if BAT activity can be inferred in Samoans. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe inferred BAT activity by comparing metabolic rate and surface heat dissipation using indirect calorimetry and thermal imaging between room temperature and cold exposure among Samoans (N = 61, females: n = 38) from 'Upolu Island, Samoa. BAT activity was inferred using ANOVA linear regression models with the variables measured at cold exposure as outcomes. T-tests were used to compare changes in surface temperature between room temperature and cold exposure.

resultsMetabolic rate significantly increased after cooling. In both the supraclavicular area, a known BAT location, and the sternum, a non-BAT location, temperatures decreased significantly upon cold exposure. Differences in supraclavicular temperatures between room temperature and cold were significantly smaller than differences in sternum temperatures between exposures. These results suggest that BAT thermogenesis occurred in known BAT-locations and thus contributed to NST during cooling.

conclusionsThis study adds to our understanding of BAT activity across different populations and climates. Further study may illuminate whether the cold-adaptive properties of BAT may have played a role in the successful expansion of populations across the globe, including warm-climate groups.

Indexed as

Adipose Tissue, BrownBody Temperature RegulationPacific Island PeopleAdultCold TemperatureFemaleHumansMaleThermogenesisbrown adipose tissuemetabolic ratePolynesiathermoregulation

Identifiers

PMID37740598
PMCPMC10843446
OpenAlexW4386979575

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.