Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass
Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a uniquely thermogenic tissue that plays an important role in metabolism and energy expenditure, has recently become a revived target in the fight against metabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Different from white ad...
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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author | Jing Yang Haili Zhang Kadirya Parhat Hui Xu Mingshuang Li Xiangyu Wang Chongzhao Ran |
author_facet | Jing Yang Haili Zhang Kadirya Parhat Hui Xu Mingshuang Li Xiangyu Wang Chongzhao Ran |
author_sort | Jing Yang |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Brown adipose tissue (BAT), a uniquely thermogenic tissue that plays an important role in metabolism and energy expenditure, has recently become a revived target in the fight against metabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Different from white adipose tissue (WAT), the brown adipocytes have distinctive features including multilocular lipid droplets, a large number of mitochondria, and a high expression of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1), as well as abundant capillarity. These histologic characteristics provide an opportunity to differentiate BAT from WAT using imaging modalities, such as PET/CT, SPECT/CT, MRI, NIRF and Ultrasound. However, most of the reported imaging methods were BAT activation dependent, and the imaging signals could be affected by many factors, including environmental temperatures and the states of the sympathetic nervous system. Accurate BAT mass detection methods that are independent of temperature and hormone levels have the capacity to track the development and changes of BAT throughout the lifetime of mammals, and such methods could be very useful for the investigation of potential BAT-related therapies. In this review, we focus on molecular imaging modalities that can detect and quantify BAT mass. In addition, their detection mechanism and limitations will be discussed as well. |
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institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:11:04Z |
publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
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series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
spelling | doaj.art-afbf19025d7e4f1584abd8be7ef640842023-11-22T10:43:27ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672021-08-012217943610.3390/ijms22179436Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue MassJing Yang0Haili Zhang1Kadirya Parhat2Hui Xu3Mingshuang Li4Xiangyu Wang5Chongzhao Ran6School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaSchool of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaSchool of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaSchool of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaSchool of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaSchool of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, ChinaAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Room 2301, Building 149, Charlestown, Boston, MA 02129, USABrown adipose tissue (BAT), a uniquely thermogenic tissue that plays an important role in metabolism and energy expenditure, has recently become a revived target in the fight against metabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Different from white adipose tissue (WAT), the brown adipocytes have distinctive features including multilocular lipid droplets, a large number of mitochondria, and a high expression of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1), as well as abundant capillarity. These histologic characteristics provide an opportunity to differentiate BAT from WAT using imaging modalities, such as PET/CT, SPECT/CT, MRI, NIRF and Ultrasound. However, most of the reported imaging methods were BAT activation dependent, and the imaging signals could be affected by many factors, including environmental temperatures and the states of the sympathetic nervous system. Accurate BAT mass detection methods that are independent of temperature and hormone levels have the capacity to track the development and changes of BAT throughout the lifetime of mammals, and such methods could be very useful for the investigation of potential BAT-related therapies. In this review, we focus on molecular imaging modalities that can detect and quantify BAT mass. In addition, their detection mechanism and limitations will be discussed as well.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/17/9436brown adipose tissuetissue mass quantificationactivation-independentrest statemolecular imagingTSPO |
spellingShingle | Jing Yang Haili Zhang Kadirya Parhat Hui Xu Mingshuang Li Xiangyu Wang Chongzhao Ran Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass International Journal of Molecular Sciences brown adipose tissue tissue mass quantification activation-independent rest state molecular imaging TSPO |
title | Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass |
title_full | Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass |
title_fullStr | Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass |
title_full_unstemmed | Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass |
title_short | Molecular Imaging of Brown Adipose Tissue Mass |
title_sort | molecular imaging of brown adipose tissue mass |
topic | brown adipose tissue tissue mass quantification activation-independent rest state molecular imaging TSPO |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/17/9436 |
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