title: Unequivocal identification of brown adipose tissue in a human infant.
abstract: We report the unique depiction of brown adipose tissue (BAT) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in a human 3-month-old infant. Based on cellular differences between BAT and more lipid-rich white adipose tissue (WAT), chemical-shift MRI and CT were both capable of generating distinct signal contrasts between the two tissues and against surrounding anatomy, utilizing fat-signal fraction metrics in the former and x-ray attenuation values in the latter. While numerous BAT imaging experiments have been performed previously in rodents, the identification of BAT in humans has only recently been described with fusion positron emission and computed tomography in adults. The imaging of BAT in children has not been widely reported and, furthermore, MRI of human BAT in general has not been demonstrated. In the present work, large bilateral supraclavicular BAT depots were clearly visualized with MRI and CT. Tissue identity was subsequently confirmed by histology. BAT has important implications in regulating energy metabolism and nonshivering thermogenesis and has the potential to combat the onset of weight gain and the development of obesity. Current findings suggest that BAT is present in significant amounts in children and that MRI and CT can differentiate BAT from WAT based on intrinsic tissue properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California Los Angeles, California, USA. hhu@chla.usc.edu
authors.forename: Houchun H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jason P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: Zdena
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pavlova
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gilsanz
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*