Body Mass Index as a Determinant of Brown Adipose Tissue Function in Healthy Children

Cannabinoid Receptor 2 as Antiobesity Target: Inflammation, Fat Storage, and Browning Modulation

“…Indeed, beige ADPs are allowed to act as simply energy storage or to activate a thermogenic program in response to different stimuli recruiting UCP-1 (9). Obesity decreases beige ADP cell number (10).…”

Insights into Brown Adipose Tissue Physiology as Revealed by Imaging Studies

“…83 In a second study performed by the same group during winter months, the median value of the hottest 25% of pixels in the thermal image of the skin in the supraclavicular area was measured. An inverse relationship was found between the baseline value and BMI percentile in 55 healthy children aged 6-11 y In 24 of these 55 children, the median temperature of the hottest 25% of the region of interest increased by 0.28 §0.06 C within 5 minutes of immersing one hand in water maintained at a temperature of 20.1 C. 84 There was no significant change in the temperature of the sternum, which served as a control area. 84 A case report of an 11 y old girl with untreated acquired primary hypothyroidism demonstrated a 1.7 C temperature difference (using infrared thermography) between the skin overlying the supraclavicular fat depot (36.0 C §0.16) and the skin overlying the sternum (34.3 C §0.19) at a room temperature of 22 C. 85 Interestingly, after 2 months of treatment with thyroid hormone replacement, which resultant clinical and biochemical euthyroidism, the skin temperature difference (at the same room temperature) fell to 0.7 C (supraclavicular skin temperature 37.1 C §0.13 vs. sternal skin temperature 36.4 C §0.13).…”

“…An inverse relationship was found between the baseline value and BMI percentile in 55 healthy children aged 6-11 y In 24 of these 55 children, the median temperature of the hottest 25% of the region of interest increased by 0.28 §0.06 C within 5 minutes of immersing one hand in water maintained at a temperature of 20.1 C. 84 There was no significant change in the temperature of the sternum, which served as a control area. 84 A case report of an 11 y old girl with untreated acquired primary hypothyroidism demonstrated a 1.7 C temperature difference (using infrared thermography) between the skin overlying the supraclavicular fat depot (36.0 C §0.16) and the skin overlying the sternum (34.3 C §0.19) at a room temperature of 22 C. 85 Interestingly, after 2 months of treatment with thyroid hormone replacement, which resultant clinical and biochemical euthyroidism, the skin temperature difference (at the same room temperature) fell to 0.7 C (supraclavicular skin temperature 37.1 C §0.13 vs. sternal skin temperature 36.4 C §0.13). 85 This raises the possibility that TSH (which was markedly elevated when her hypothyroidism was untreated with a subsequent reduction to normal levels post-treatment) may stimulate BAT thermogenesis, especially since brown adipocytes are known to have TSH receptors and TSH increases UCP1 mRNA in brown adipocytes.…”

The Ontogeny of Brown Adipose Tissue

“…The potential to use complementary large animal models, in which BAT is much more representative of the human situation, represents an untapped research resource. At the same time, it is now possible to assess BAT function in a majority of humans by using safe and noninvasive techniques, such as infrared thermography (thermal imaging) (91). An increased understanding of the developmental and epigenetic regulation of BAT in large mammals could ultimately mean sustainable nutritional interventions to promote BAT function.…”