INTRODUCTION: With the rise of obesity, the role of brown adipose tissue (BAT) capable of eliminating lipids via thermogenesis, is garnering interest. Novel research has shown TGFB's influence in the browning of white adipose.AIM: To ascertain the expression levels of Brown Fat specific genes and the interaction of these genes with core regulatory genes such as TGFB, T-cell transcription factors, and cell cycle related genes such as KCNRG in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of morbidly obese NAFLD patients.METHODS: RNAs were extracted from frozen visceral fat samples of 84 patients with liver biopsy proven NAFLD using Bio-Rad's Aurum Total RNA Fatty and Fibrous Tissue Kit. RNA from each sample was converted to cDNA using SABiosciences' RT2 First Strand Kit. Custom primers were designed for all genes and were validated. These primers and the cDNA samples were added to 10 μL q-PCR reactions in a 96 well plate format. Co-expression patterns were analyzed using Spearman's rank-sum correlation. RESULTS: Visceral fat samples were obtained from 84 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients undergoing Bariatric surgery (age 42.62 ± 11.55 years, BMI 47.23 ± 9.99, 39.3% NASH, 67.9% female, AST 27.20 ± 20.25U/L, ALT 35.85 ± 29.18U/L). BAT specific genes UCP1 and PRDM16 both positively correlate with expression of inflammatory regulator TGFB1 (r = 0.35, p-value < 0.001 and r = 0.43, p-value < 7.6e05 respectively) in VAT and UCP1 also correlates with the receptor TGFBR1 (r = 0.28, pvalue < 0.009). The data also show a positive correlation between UCP1and the cell cycle gene KCNRG v2 (r = 0.25, p-value < 0.02), as well as the T-cell transcription factors T-bet (r=0.23, p-value<0.04), CD3e (r=0.26, p-value<0.02), and GATA3 (r=0.22, p-value<0.04). PRDM16 also correlates with KCNRGv2 (r = 0.29, p-value < 0.01) and CD3e (r = 0.36, pvalue < 0.001). In additions UCP1 and PRDM16 show a positive correlation (r = 0.6032, p-value < 4.0e-9).CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between the expression of BAT specific genes UCP1 and PRDM16 with T-bet, CD3e, GATA3, TGFBR1, TGFB1, and KCNRGV2 in VAT could suggest a novel role for the activation of brown adipocytes. Further studies would be needed on brown adipocytes to confirm specific receptor interactions and their significance.