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Updated: Nov 26, 2025

Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at 7 T in the Rat Barrel Cortex During Whisker Activation
Published on: February 8, 2019
Measurement of BAT activity by targeted molecular magnetic resonance imaging
Qingqiao Hu1, Huixiao Cao1, Lu Zhou1
1Departments of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to measure brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity by targeted peptide (CKGGRAKDC-NH2)-coupled, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:
The peptide was conjugated with PEG-coated USPIO to obtain targeted probes. Male C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into cold exposing and control group (n = 5 per group). T2*-weighted images were obtained pre- and post-contrast probes. Histological and gene expression analyses were carried out.
Results:
T2* relaxation time of BAT in the cold exposing group decreased more significantly compared to the control group. The calculated R2* increased with the reduction of T2* value. The ΔR2* (26.68 s-1) of BAT in the cold exposing group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the control group. Iron particle sediments in BAT of the cold exposing group were revealed more than the control group with Prussian blue staining. The UCP1 expression level was up-regulated after cold activation.
Conclusions:
BAT activity could be measured in vivo by the targeted peptide-coupled, PEG-coated USPIOs with MRI.
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