Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy toward In Vivo Assessment of the Adipose Tissue in Cardiometabolic Pathologies

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Spectroscopy
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) advances Raman spectroscopy for depth-resolved analysis of biological samples.
• Current SORS applications primarily focus on bone and tissue mineralization.
• Noninvasive molecular analysis of soft, organic tissues remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce SORS for assessing soft, organic adipose tissue composition.
• To evaluate a hand-held SORS device for diagnostic applications.
• To characterize adipose tissue in murine models of metabolic disorders.

Main Methods:

• Utilized SORS for noninvasive chemical analysis of perigonadal white adipose tissue (gWAT).
• Compared gWAT from control mice with those on a high-fat diet (HFD), and models of atherosclerosis and heart failure.
• Employed a hand-held SORS device for in vivo measurements.

Main Results:

• Distinct chemical differences were observed in gWAT between HFD-fed and control mice.
• SORS effectively characterized adipose tissue phenotypes in vivo.
• The study demonstrated SORS's capability for noninvasive adipose tissue assessment.

Conclusions:

• SORS is effective for noninvasive characterization of adipose tissue chemical composition.
• This technique shows potential for diagnosing metabolic disorders.
• SORS offers a valuable tool for intravital tissue analysis.