title: Insights into Brown Adipose Tissue Physiology as Revealed by Imaging Studies.
abstract: There has been resurgence in interest in brown adipose tissue (BAT) following radiological and histological identification of metabolically active BAT in adult humans. Imaging enables BAT to be studied non-invasively and therefore imaging studies have contributed a significant amount to what is known about BAT function in humans. In this review the current knowledge (derived from imaging studies) about the prevalence, function, activity and regulation of BAT in humans (as well as relevant rodent studies), will be summarized.
authors.affiliation: Section of Investigative Medicine; Imperial College ; London, UK.
authors.forename: Chioma
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Izzi-Engbeaya
authors.affiliation: Section of Investigative Medicine; Imperial College ; London, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Salem
authors.affiliation: Section of Investigative Medicine; Imperial College ; London, UK.
authors.forename: Rajveer S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Atkar
authors.affiliation: Section of Investigative Medicine; Imperial College ; London, UK.
authors.forename: Waljit S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Dhillo
keywords: 11C-MHED, [11C]-meta-hydroxyephedrine; 18F-FDG, [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose; 99mTc-sestamibi, technetium-99m sestamibi; 99mTc-tetrofosmin, technetium-99m tetrofosmin; ATP, adenosine triphosphate; BAT, brown adipose tissue; BMI, body mass index; BOLD, blood oxygen level dependent; CIT, cold-induced thermogenesis; IQR, interquartile range; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NST, non-shivering thermogenesis; PET-CT, positron emission tomography-computed tomography; SPECT, single photon emission CT; UCP-1, uncoupling protein 1; WAT, white adipose tissue; brown adipose tissue; energy expenditure; imaging; metabolism; thermogenesis