Scientists have found that losartan, a medicine commonly prescribed for high blood pressure, may stimulate brown fat, a type of fat tissue that uses energy to produce heat. The discovery could help researchers explore new approaches to metabolic and cardiovascular health. However, the findings do not yet establish that the medicine provides these benefits in humans.
What Makes Brown Fat Different?
The body contains different types of fat that perform different functions. White fat mainly stores energy, while brown fat burns energy to generate heat.
Brown fat contains numerous mitochondria, which help cells produce energy. Researchers are studying whether increasing its activity could eventually contribute to better metabolic health and improve understanding of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
How Losartan Could Affect Brown Fat
Researchers analysed medical imaging data from more than 100,000 patients and identified an association between brown fat and several favourable health indicators.
Further laboratory experiments showed that losartan increased metabolic activity in cultured brown fat cells. Experiments involving mice also found increases in energy expenditure and oxygen consumption following treatment.
The results suggest that losartan may influence brown fat through biological pathways distinct from those responsible for lowering blood pressure.
Could This Lead to New Treatments?
The findings provide a starting point for investigating whether brown fat could become a target for future treatments related to metabolic and cardiovascular health.
However, the evidence includes laboratory and animal experiments, and the human data show associations rather than proof of cause and effect. Further clinical research is needed to determine whether these effects can be safely reproduced in people.
Losartan should be taken only as prescribed by a healthcare professional. It should not be started or changed for weight management or other purposes based on this research.
