White fat stores excess energy, whereas brown and beige fat are thermogenic and dissipate energy as heat. Thermogenic adipose tissues markedly improve glucose and lipid homeostasis in mouse models, although the extent to which brown adipose tissue (BAT) influences metabolic and cardiovascular disease in humans is unclear 1,2 . Here we retrospectively categorized 134,529 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography scans from 52,487 patients, by presence or absence of BAT, and used propensity score matching to assemble a study cohort. Scans in the study population were initially conducted for indications related to cancer diagnosis, treatment or surveillance, without previous stimulation. We report that individuals with BAT had lower prevalences of cardiometabolic diseases, and the presence of BAT was independently correlated with lower odds of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension. These findings were supported by improved blood glucose, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein values.

We report persistent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in a patient with HIV/AIDS; the virus developed spike N terminal domain and receptor binding domain neutralization resistance mutations. Our findings suggest that immunocompromised patients can harbor emerging variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

34White fat stores excess energy, while brown and beige fat dissipate energy as heat 1 . These 35 thermogenic adipose tissues markedly improve glucose and lipid homeostasis in mouse 36 models, though the extent to which brown adipose tissue (BAT) influences metabolic and 37 cardiovascular disease in humans is unclear 2,3,4 . Here, we categorized 139,224 18 F-FDG 38 PET/CT scans from 53,475 patients by presence or absence of BAT and used propensity score 39 matching to assemble a study cohort. Individuals with BAT showed lower prevalences of 40 cardiometabolic diseases. Additionally, BAT independently correlated with lower odds of type II 41 diabetes, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. These findings were supported 42 by improved glucose, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein values. The effects of BAT were 43 more pronounced in overweight and obesity, indicating that BAT can offset the deleterious 44 effects of obesity. Strikingly, we also found lower rates of hypertension among patients with 45BAT. Studies in a mouse model with genetic ablation of beige fat demonstrated elevated blood 46 pressure due to increased sensitivity to angiotensin II in peripheral resistance arteries. In 47 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) on positron emission tomography (PET) in areas 52 corresponding to supraclavicular fat on computed tomography (CT), suggesting the presence of 53 metabolically-active BAT in adult humans 5,6 . This tissue has received intense interest from the 54 biomedical community since 2009 when a series of papers confirmed the presence of active 55 BAT in adults, which correlated with lower body mass index (BMI), decreased age, colder 56 outdoor temperature, and female sex, as well as an association with decreased fasting glucose 57 levels 7,8,9,10,11,12 . Since then, small prospective studies in healthy humans have demonstrated 58 that cold-activated BAT is associated with increased whole body energy expenditure and 59