Tea catechin and caffeine activate brown adipose tissue and increase cold-induced thermogenic capacity in humans

Abstract

The thermogenic effects of green tea catechin have been repeatedly reported, but their mechanisms are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute and chronic effects of catechin on brown adipose tissue (BAT), a site specialized for nonshivering thermogenesis, in humans. Fifteen healthy male volunteers underwent fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography to assess BAT activity. To examine the acute catechin effect, whole-body energy expenditure (EE) after a single oral ingestion of a beverage containing 615 mg catechin and 77 mg caffeine (catechin beverage) was measured. Next, to investigate the chronic catechin effects, 10 men with low BAT activity were enrolled. Before and after ingestion of the catechin beverage 2 times/d for 5 wk, cold-induced thermogenesis (CIT) after 2 h of cold exposure at 19°C, which is proportional to BAT activity, was examined. Both the acute and chronic trials were single-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, season-matched crossover studies. A single ingestion of the catechin beverage increased EE in 9 subjects who had metabolically active BAT (mean ± SEM: +15.24 ± 1.48 kcal, < 0.01) but not in 6 subjects who had negligible activities (mean ± SEM: +3.42 ± 2.68 kcal). The ingestion of a placebo beverage containing 82 mg caffeine produced a smaller and comparative EE response in the 2 subject groups. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a significant interaction between BAT and catechin on EE (β = 0.496, = 0.003). Daily ingestion of the catechin beverage elevated mean ± SEM CIT (from 92.0 ± 26.5 to 197.9 ± 27.7 kcal/d; = 0.009), whereas the placebo beverage did not change it. Orally ingested tea catechin with caffeine acutely increases EE associated with increased BAT activity and chronically elevates nonshivering CIT, probably because of the recruitment of BAT, in humans. These trials were registered at www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/ as UMIN000016361.

Guarana supplementation attenuated obesity, insulin resistance, and adipokines dysregulation induced by a standardized human Western diet via brown adipose tissue activation

“…Consistent with our data, other studies have shown that many plant extracts rich in catechins and methylxanthines, like guarana, may activate AMPK concomitantly with reducing weight (Henning et al, ) and increase energy expenditure (Yoneshiro et al, ). Interestingly, when administered together, catechin and caffeine increase energy expenditure in subjects with metabolically active BAT but not in subjects with negligible activity (Yoneshiro et al, ), suggesting that the anti‐obesity effect of catechin and caffeine occurs via BAT activation.…”

“…In the present study, guarana activated BAT by promoting mass increase, mitochondrial biogenesis, and UCP1 overexpression, which are important mechanisms of BAT activation (Lidell et al, ; Sanchez‐Delgado et al, ). Corroborating our data, many other extracts/compounds effective in weight management have been shown to activate BAT in humans and animal models (Saito & Yoneshiro, ; Yoneshiro et al, ; Yuan et al, ). BAT activation can be stimulated by other factor like ambient temperature, which is a crucial factor in determining organismal energy balance, at least in part through BAT activation (Lidell et al, ; Sanchez‐Delgado et al, ).…”

“…Currently, many key factors have been widely used to indicate BAT activation, such as BAT expansion, UCP1 content, and mitochondrial numbers (Lidell, Betz, & Enerbäck, 2014;Sanchez-Delgado et al, 2015). It is known that many plants (extracts and phytochemicals) are able to activate the BAT (Saito & Yoneshiro, 2013;Yoneshiro et al, 2017;Yuan et al, 2017). Thus, these plants become an attractive therapeutic targets to treat obesity.…”

White tea intake interferes with the expression of angiogenic factors in the corpora lutea of superovulated rats

“…The caffeine in white tea may, in part, be responsible for this result, as it is thermogenic and stimulates the oxidation of fat (for review, see Harpaz et al ., ). However, caffeine is unlikely to be solely responsible for this finding, as catechins containing caffeine have a greater thermogenic effect than caffeine alone (Heber et al ., ; Yoneshiro et al ., ).…”

“…The caffeine in white tea may, in part, be responsible for this result, as it is thermogenic and stimulates the oxidation of fat (for review, see Harpaz et al, 2017). However, caffeine is unlikely to be solely responsible for this finding, as catechins containing caffeine have a greater thermogenic effect than caffeine alone (Heber et al, 2014;Yoneshiro et al, 2017). Values in the same column followed by the same lower-case letters (analysed by unpaired t-test) and values on the same line followed by the same capital letters (analysed by one-way repeated measures ANOVA) are not significantly different (P > 0.05).…”