Brown adipose tissue localization using ¹⁸F-FDG PET/MRI in adult

Excerpt

White adipose tissue (WAT), the large “endocrine organ” of the body, stores excess of energy as intracellular lipids contributing to obesity development [1]. On the contrary brown adipose tissue (BAT) can dissipate energy as heat thus contributing to tackle weight gain [1]. Recently, there has been a dramatic renaissance of the scientific interest in BAT following the demonstration that adult humans possess BAT depots in the supraclavicular fossa and neighbouring neck regions [2]. Research is now aimed to discover how to activate BAT in humans, given the fact that activation of few grams of BAT can greatly increase energy expenditure, thus making BAT activation a novel therapeutic target for human obesity and its related cardiovascular and metabolic consequences [3]. The identification of non-invasive techniques to identify and evaluate BAT in humans is highly requested. …