Brown adipose tissue in humans: detection and functional analysis using PET (positron emission tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), and DECT (dual energy computed tomography)

Magnus Borga; Kirsi A Virtanen; Thobias Romu; Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard; Anders Persson; Pirjo Nuutila; Sven Enerbäck

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-411619-1.00008-2

Brown adipose tissue in humans: detection and functional analysis using PET (positron emission tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), and DECT (dual energy computed tomography)

Methods Enzymol. 2014:537:141-59. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-411619-1.00008-2.

Authors

Magnus Borga¹, Kirsi A Virtanen², Thobias Romu¹, Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard³, Anders Persson⁴, Pirjo Nuutila⁵, Sven Enerbäck⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
² Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
³ Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
⁴ Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; County Council of Östergötland, Linköping, Sweden.
⁵ Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Endocrinology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
⁶ Department of Clinical and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: sven.enerback@medgen.gu.se.

PMID: 24480345
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-411619-1.00008-2

Abstract

If the beneficial effects of brown adipose tissue (BAT) on whole body metabolism, as observed in nonhuman experimental models, are to be translated to humans, tools that accurately measure how BAT influences human metabolism will be required. This chapter discusses such techniques, how they can be used, what they can measure and also some of their limitations. The focus is on detection and functional analysis of human BAT and how this can be facilitated by applying advanced imaging technology such as positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and dual energy computed tomography.

Keywords: Brown adipose tissue; Dual energy computed tomography; Human; Magnetic resonance imaging; Positron emission tomography.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue, Brown / ultrastructure*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*