Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
![Visualization and Quantification of Brown and Beige Adipose Tissues in Mice using [18F]FDG Micro-PET/MR Imaging](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F62460.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
08:31
Visualization and Quantification of Brown and Beige Adipose Tissues in Mice using [18F]FDG Micro-PET/MR Imaging
Published on: July 1, 2021
3.1K
In-vivo detection of white adipose tissue browning: a multimodality imaging approach
Leah R Holmes1,2, John C Garside1,2, Jonathan Frank2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Scientific Reports
|September 19, 2023
Summary
Researchers explored non-invasive methods to detect brown fat changes. They found increased water content and perfusion in mouse fat tissue after stimulation, but no significant change in glucose uptake, suggesting a complex metabolic role.
Area of Science:
- Adipose tissue biology
- Metabolic imaging
- Brown adipose tissue research
Background:
- Detecting and differentiating human brown and beige adipose tissue is challenging due to their sparsity and similarity to white adipose tissue.
- Non-invasive methods are needed to study the browning process in adipose tissue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To non-invasively detect functional and structural changes during the browning of white adipose tissue.
- To investigate the effects of chronic beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonist stimulation on adipose tissue characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized positron emission tomography with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET), computed tomography (CT), xenon-enhanced CT (XE-CT), and dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US).
- Induced browning in mouse inguinal white fat using the beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonist CL-316243.
- Assessed changes in tissue radiodensity, water and protein content, perfusion, and glucose uptake.
Main Results:
- Observed heterogeneous increases in baseline tissue radiodensity and XE-CT radiodensity, indicating increased adipocyte water/protein content and perfusion.
- These changes were most prominent in regions with pre-existing enhanced norepinephrine-stimulated perfusion.
- No significant increase in FDG uptake or norepinephrine-stimulated perfusion was detected post-CL-316243 treatment.
Conclusions:
- Chronic stimulation with CL-316243 induced structural and perfusion changes in white adipose tissue, but not increased glucose uptake.
- The observed increase in tissue water content and perfusion warrants further investigation into the metabolic role of browning adipose tissue.
- Non-invasive imaging techniques can reveal subtle changes in adipose tissue during the browning process.
