The evolutionary significance of human brown adipose tissue: Integrating the timescales of adaptation.

Autor: Levy SB; Department of Anthropology, CUNY Hunter College, New York, New York, USA.; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York, USA., Leonard WR; Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Evolutionary anthropology [Evol Anthropol] 2022 Apr; Vol. 31 (2), pp. 75-91. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Dec 15.
DOI: 10.1002/evan.21930
Abstrakt: While human adaptability is regarded as a classical topic in anthropology, recent work provides new insight into metabolic adaptations to cold climates and the role of phenotypic plasticity in human evolution. A growing body of literature demonstrates that adults retain brown adipose tissue (BAT) which may play a role in non-shivering thermogenesis. In this narrative review, we apply the timescales of adaptation framework in order to explore the adaptive significance of human BAT. Human variation in BAT is shaped by multiple adaptive modes (i.e., allostasis, acclimatization, developmental adaptation, epigenetic inheritance, and genetic adaptation), and together the adaptive modes act as an integrated system. We hypothesize that plasticity in BAT facilitated the successful expansion of human populations into circumpolar regions, allowing for selection of genetic adaptations to cold climates to take place. Future research rooted in human energetics and biocultural perspectives is essential for understanding BAT's adaptive and health significance.
(© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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