title: Changes in Brown Adipose Tissue and Muscle Development during Infancy.
abstract: To examine the relationship between brown adipose tissue (BAT) and muscle development, two tissues that derive from a common cell lineage, during the first 6 months of postnatal life.
  
  
  
  Thirty healthy term infants (15 males and females) underwent whole-body magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Measurements of BAT in the supraclavicular area as well as measures of trunk musculature and subcutaneous adiposity were obtained at birth and at 6 months of age.
  
  
  
  Paraspinous musculature and subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) increased, and the proportion of BAT in the supraclavicular area decreased during infancy. Although measures of BAT did not correlate with paraspinous musculature through the first 6 months of life (r = -0.35; P = .09), BAT was a significant predictor of paraspinous musculature after adjusting for weight, body length, and WAT (P = .002); infants with the smallest decreases in BAT had the greatest gains in musculature. In contrast, changes in BAT did not predict increases in subcutaneous WAT (P = .25) during infancy, which were primarily determined by body weight.
  
  
  
  Changes in BAT are associated with muscle development but not WAT accumulation in healthy infants. Studies are needed to determine the mechanism(s) by which BAT could facilitate muscle growth, and the degree to which decreased muscle mass, such as in preterm and low birth weight infants, is related to a deficiency of BAT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Skorn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ponrartana
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Patricia C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Aggabao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Naga L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Dharmavaram
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Electronic address: vgilsanz@chla.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gilsanz
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D052436:Adipose Tissue, White / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D024510:Muscle Development; D064170:Paraspinal Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D047929:Term Birth
keywords: MRI; brown fat; infants; musculature