title: Brown adipose tissue and its relationship to bone structure in pediatric patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emerging evidence suggests a possible link between brown adipose tissue (BAT) and bone metabolism.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between BAT and bone cross-sectional dimensions in children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted at a pediatric referral center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients included 40 children and teenagers (21 males and 19 females) successfully treated for pediatric malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were no interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The volume of BAT was determined by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography. Measures of the cross-sectional area and cortical bone area and measures of thigh musculature and sc fat were determined at the midshaft of the femur.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regardless of sex, there were significant correlations seen between BAT volume and the cross-sectional dimensions of the bone (r values between 0.68 and 0.77; all P ≤ 0 .001). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the volume of BAT predicted femoral cross-sectional area and cortical bone area, even after accounting for height, weight, and gender. The addition of muscle as an independent variable increased the predictive power of the model but significantly decreased the contribution of BAT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The volume of BAT is positively associated with the amount of bone and the cross-sectional size of the femur in children and adolescents. This relation between BAT and bone structure could, at least in part, be mediated by muscle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90027, USA.
authors.forename: Skorn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ponrartana
authors.forename: Patricia C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Aggabao
authors.forename: Houchun H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Grace M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Aldrovandi
authors.forename: Tishya A L
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wren
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gilsanz
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001846:Bone Development; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed