An optimal condition for the evaluation of human brown adipose tissue by infrared thermography

Abstract

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is responsible for non-shivering thermogenesis and is an attractive therapeutic target for combating obesity and related diseases. Human BAT activity has been evaluated by 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( 18 FDG-PET/CT) under acute cold exposure, but the method has some serious limitations, including radiation exposure. Infrared thermography (IRT) may be a simple and less-invasive alternative to evaluate BAT activity. In the present study, to establish an optimal condition for IRT, using a thermal imaging camera, skin temperature was measured in the supraclavicular region close to BAT depots (T scv ) and the control chest region (T c ) in 24 young healthy volunteers. Their BAT activity was assessed as the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV max ) by 18 FDG-PET/CT. Under a warm condition at 24–27°C, no significant correlation was found between the IRT parameters (T scv , T c, , and the difference between T scv and T c, , Δtemp) and SUV max , but 30–120 min after cold exposure at 19°C, T scv and Δtemp were significantly correlated with SUV max ( r = 0.40–0.48 and r = 0.68–0.76). Δtemp after cold exposure was not affected by mean body temperature, body fatness, and skin blood flow. A lower correlation ( r = 0.43) of Δtemp with SUV max was also obtained when the participant’s hands were immersed in water at 18°C for 5 min. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that Δtemp after 30–60 min cold exposure can be used as an index for BAT evaluation with 74% sensitivity, 92% specificity, and 79% diagnostic accuracy. Thus, IRT may be useful as a simple and less-invasive method for evaluating BAT, particularly for large-scale screening and longitudinal repeat studies.

Effects of beta-conglycinin intake on circulating FGF21 levels and brown adipose tissue activity in Japanese young men: a single intake study and a randomized controlled trial

“…The subjects had a relatively lower BAT activity. Indeed, the average supraclavicular-chest skin temperature was 0.8°C, while BAT-positive subjects were defined as having approximately > 1.0°C in a previous study [27]. It is necessary to examine the long-term effects of beta-conglycinin intake on BAT activity and to identify the related variables.…”

“…After blood samples were collected, the temperature of the climatic chamber was reduced to 19 °C. The changes in chamber temperature were done within 5 min, and the cold exposure started at 19 °C in the chamber [ 27 , 28 ]. Thereafter, both body surface temperature and blood samples were collected at 1 h and 2 h of mild-cold exposure.…”

“…After blood samples were collected, the temperature of the climatic chamber was reduced to 19°C. The changes in chamber temperature were done within 5 min, and the cold exposure started at 19°C in the chamber [27,28]. Thereafter, both body surface Twenty tablets composition was shown that it is used in single intake study and as amounts of daily intake in randomized controlled trials.…”

“…BAT activity was determined as per a previously described method [27]. In brief, body surface temperature was measured using a thermal imaging camera (DE-TC1000T; D-eyes, Osaka, Japan).…”

Metabolic Improvement via Enhancing Thermogenic Fat-Mediated Non-shivering Thermogenesis: From Rodents to Humans

“…Similar to the MRI, IRT does not require radioactivity for its measurements. The anterior supraclavicular temperature measured by IRT has been shown to be positively correlated with energy expenditure and changes in parallel with standard uptake value (SUV) obtained from PET imaging (38,39). Nevertheless, IRT is mostly useful for measuring the temperature of superficial adipose tissue, which might be inapplicable and imprecise for a temperature measurement of deeper parts.…”