A new method of infrared thermography for quantification of brown adipose tissue activation in healthy adults (TACTICAL): a randomized trial

Abstract

The ability to alter the amount and activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in human adults is a potential strategy to manage obesity and related metabolic disorders associated with food, drug, and environmental stimuli with BAT activating/recruiting capacity. Infrared thermography (IRT) provides a non-invasive and inexpensive alternative to the current methods (e.g. 18F-FDG PET) used to assess BAT. We have quantified BAT activation in the cervical-supraclavicular (C-SCV) region using IRT video imaging and a novel image computational algorithm by studying C-SCV heat production in healthy young men after cold stimulation and the ingestion of capsinoids in a prospective double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial. Subjects were divided into low-BAT and high-BAT groups based on changes in IR emissions in the C-SCV region induced by cold. The high-BAT group showed significant increases in energy expenditure, fat oxidation, and heat output in the C-SCV region post-capsinoid ingestion compared to post-placebo ingestion, but the low-BAT group did not. Based on these results, we conclude that IRT is a promising tool for quantifying BAT activity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12576-016-0472-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Infrared Thermography for Estimating Supraclavicular Skin Temperature and BAT Activity in Humans: A Systematic Review

“…The first study to use IRT to estimate SST was performed in 2011 . Ten studies were then published between 2011 and 2016 , six in 2017 , six in 2018 , and one until April 2019 .…”

“…Most, but not all, of the identified studies ( n = 18; 75%) included cooling protocols, although the duration, temperature, and the way of inducing cooling differed between studies (Figure ). Nine out of these eighteen studies used hands/feet immersion in cold water (temperature 10.8°C ± 8.7°C, duration: 6.1 ± 6.8 minutes) . Seven of these nine studies used a cold exposure of < 5 minutes.…”

“…The first study to use IRT to estimate SST was performed in 2011 (24). Ten studies were then published between 2011 and 2016 (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), six in 2017 (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), six in 2018 (16,(41)(42)(43)(44), and one until April 2019 (45).…”

“…Some 56% of these individuals were from four studies (n = 164, n = 102, n = 88, n = 86) (24,31,43,44) (Table 1). Twelve of the selected twenty-four studies included both sexes (24,26,28,29,31,32,37,(41)(42)(43)45,46), three involved only females (27,33,44), and nine involved only males (16,25,30,(34)(35)(36)(38)(39)(40). One study took into account the phases of the menstrual cycle (32).…”

“…According to the PEDro scale criteria, 8.3% (n = 2) (24,25) of the studies were of low quality, 62.5% (n = 15) (20,26,27,30,31,33,(36)(37)(38)(39)41,43,44) of medium quality, and 29% (n = 7) (32,34,35,40,42,45,46) of high quality ( Table 2). The criteria least satisfied by the different studies were those of items 2 and 3 regarding allocation and 5, 6, and 7 regarding the blinding process.…”