Field and laboratory methods for quantifying brown adipose tissue thermogenesis

Autor: Stephanie B Levy
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: American Journal of Human Biology. 31
ISSN: 1520-6300
1042-0533
DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23261
Popis: Non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) is a metabolic response to acute cold exposure that involves the liberation of chemical energy through physiological mechanisms that are separate from muscle shivering. Recent research suggests that the metabolic and endocrine action of brown adipose tissue (BAT) may play an important role in adult human NST. Thus, characterizing variation in BAT across human populations is of central importance to human biologists interested in human energetics and cardio-metabolic health. The gold standard for measuring BAT requires positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT)-a technique that is expensive, exposes the participant to radiation, and is inaccessible to researchers working in many regions. Here, the author outline a noninvasive, portable alternative approach to quantifying BAT that modifies the protocols commonly used in PET/CT studies. The method consists of three components: (a) activating BAT thermogenesis using a mild cooling condition; (b) indirectly quantifying BAT thermogenesis by measuring the change in skin temperature where BAT is commonly stored using infrared thermal imaging; and (c) estimating NST by measuring the change in energy expenditure using open-circuit indirect calorimetry. The development of "field-friendly" methods will allow human biologists to better characterize population variation in BAT as well as its adaptive and health significance.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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