Several members of the mitochondrial carrier protein family are classified as uncoupling proteins. In contrast to the uncoupling protein specific to brown adipose tissue (UCP1), the physiological role of skeletal muscle uncoupling proteins (UCP2 and UCP3) in weight regulation seems more closely associated with the regulation of lipids as fuel substrate than as mediators of adaptive thermogenesis.

Previous investigations show that intracerebroventricular administration of a potent inhibitor of fatty acid synthase, C75, increases the level of its substrate, malonyl-CoA, in the hypothalamus. The "malonyl-CoA signal" is rapidly transmitted to skeletal muscle by the sympathetic nervous system, increasing fatty acid oxidation, uncoupling protein-3 (UCP3) expression, and thus, energy expenditu...

It is known that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) feeding decreases body adiposity but the mechanisms involved are not clear. The aim of this study was to analyse whether alterations in uncoupling protein (UCP) expression in white and brown adipose tissues (WAT and BAT, respectively) and in skeletal muscle may be responsible for the effect of trans-10, cis-12 CLA on the size of body fat depots in...

Currently there is tremendous interest in obesity and its harmful donsequences. Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) along with waist girth are routinely used parameters. One snag in the interpretation of BMI >25 as a measure of obesity is the assumption that the increase is mainly due to fat. This review emphasizes the importance of assessing the muscle component of BMI (by simple somatosc...