A blood-pressure drug unexpectedly switches on energy-burning brown fat

Brown fat is the body's furnace — tissue that burns energy to make heat, and having more of it active is linked to healthier hearts and metabolism. Scanning PET/CT images and records from more than 100,000 patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Rockefeller University researchers led by Paul Cohen noticed that people taking a common class of blood-pressure drug — angiotensin receptor blockers such as losartan — were more likely to have active brown fat. Lab tests then showed losartan directly raises brown fat cells' metabolism, through a route separate from lowering blood pressure. Published in Nature on 14 October, it raises the prospect of future therapies even for people whose blood pressure is normal.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation