AI analysis of human brown fat points to losartan for further metabolic research
Published in Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Drugs development & discovery, Journals.
Published October 15, 2026.
A study published in Nature on October 14 used AI to examine brown-fat activity in PET/CT scans and medical records from more than 100,000 patients imaged for cancer. Researchers led by Rockefeller University linked greater activity in this heat-producing tissue to more favorable cardiometabolic health measures.
The retrospective analysis also identified an association between angiotensin receptor blocker use and higher brown-fat activity. Follow-up laboratory work showed that losartan, a drug in this class, increased metabolic activity in brown-fat cells. Healthy mice given losartan showed increased energy expenditure while maintaining stable body weight.
The distinction matters: the human findings are observational, while the intervention experiments were conducted in cells and mice. The study does not establish that losartan improves human metabolic health by activating brown fat, nor that it produces weight loss.
The results provide a rationale for further human studies and illustrate how AI-assisted analysis of existing clinical data can generate drug-repurposing hypotheses. They do not support changing treatment to stimulate brown fat.
Source: NIH announcement, October 14, 2026; Nature research paper.