Increasing energy expenditure is an appealing therapeutic target for the prevention and reversal of metabolic conditions such as obesity or type 2 diabetes. However, not enough research has investigated how to exploit pre-existing neural pathways, both in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS), in order to meet these needs. Here, we review several research areas in this field, including centrally acting pathways known to drive the activation of sympathetic nerves that can increase lipolysis and browning in white adipose tissue (WAT) or increase thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT), as well as other central and peripheral pathways able to increase energy expenditure of these tissues. In addition, we describe new work investigating the family of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels on metabolically important sensory nerves, as well as the role of the vagus nerve in regulating energy balance.
Keywords: Brown adipose tissue (BAT); Central nervous system (CNS); Energy expenditure; Obesity; Sympathetic nervous system (SNS); Thermogenesis.