Research
Hormonal
Pharmacological activation of brown adipose tissue using beta-3-adrenoreceptor agonists increases cardiovascular risk (heart rate and blood pressure) without providing weight loss benefits.
Avoid beta-3-adrenoreceptor agonists for weight loss. They increase heart rate and blood pressure and have failed in clinical trials due to side effects.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
existing pharmacological studies suggest that BAT activation via the sympathetic nervous system may result in increased heart rate and systolic blood pressure... pharmacological agents to date (such as beta-3-adrenoreceptor agonists) have failed in clinical trials due to cardiovascular and muscular undesired effects
Why this rating
Based on clinical trial failures and physiological observations.
Source
Is activation of human brown adipose tissue a viable target for weight management?
Kara L. Marlatt et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · 2018
DOI 10.1152/ajpregu.00443.2017
narrative_reviewCited 35×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Activation of human brown adipose tissue (BAT) via cold exposure or pharmacological agents does not result in meaningful body weight loss and is not a viable strategy for obesity treatment.Good
- While BAT activation does not cause weight loss, it may improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in humans.Good
- BAT activation may play a role in weight loss maintenance by counteracting metabolic adaptation (slowed metabolism) after weight loss.Moderate
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