Green Tea Induces the Browning of Adipose Tissue—Systematic Review

Abstract

Several foods and nutrients are being studied extensively because they have a positive effect on thermogenesis and the browning of white adipose tissue. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate, through a systematic review, the effect of green tea for inducing browning of adipose tissue. The systematic review was built following the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyze. We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed (Medline), Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. We included ten experimental articles that used green tea to treat induced obesity in rodents. Green tea reduced the weight of white and brown adipose tissue, positively regulated gene expression and microRNA that regulate the metabolism of adipose tissue, and morphological changes were identified as beige tissue. According to the results found, the factors involved in this induction to browning are PPARγ, PGC-1α, UCP1, CPT, and PRDM16. Therefore, green tea promotes the browning of adipose tissue in rodents. It is important to emphasize the need for studies in obese humans to identify whether the same metabolic response occurs.