I am very behind on updating the website with new publications, so these will be quick summaries.
This research was conducted by Dr. Alexandra Niclou and her team in Samoa, and looked at substrate metabolism in brown adipose tissue (BAT). The Samoan individuals in this study exhibited brown adipose tissue activity, and their BAT metabolized a mix of glucose and fatty acids.
This is different from what we have seen in other populations for whom BAT substrate metabolism has been documented. For example, BAT among the Sakha of Siberia seems to preferentially use glucose. While reindeer herders in Finland exhibit BAT that uses a majority fatty acids.
This work demonstrates that there is a great deal of individual in interpopulational variation in BAT activity and substrate utilization. We still do not know why variation in substrate utilization exists. It could be driven by dietary differences, mitochondria level differences, and potentially even the intriguing possibility that BAT has anaerobic and aerobic metabolic components.