Advertisement
Letter to the Editor| Volume 40, e19-e21, May 2017

Download started.

Ok

Activation and quantification of human brown adipose tissue: Methodological considerations for between studies comparisons

Comment on: Hot heads & cool bodies: The conundrums of human BAT activity research
  • Borja Martinez-Tellez
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author at: PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain.
    Affiliations
    PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain

    Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
    Search for articles by this author
  • Guillermo Sanchez-Delgado
    Affiliations
    PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain
    Search for articles by this author
  • Mariëtte R. Boon
    Affiliations
    Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
    Search for articles by this author
  • Patrick C.N. Rensen
    Affiliations
    Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
    Search for articles by this author
  • Jonatan R. Ruiz
    Affiliations
    PROFITH “PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity” Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain
    Search for articles by this author
Published:February 16, 2017DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2017.02.006
Activation and quantification of human brown adipose tissue: Methodological considerations for between studies comparisons
Previous ArticleIn-hospital mortality and diabetes: Absence of association
Next ArticleWho to screen for calreticulin mutations? An audit of real-life practice and review of current evidence
      We read with interest the study by Bahler et al. [
      • Bahler L.
      • Holleman F.
      • Booij J.
      • Hoekstra J.B.
      • Verberne H.J.
      Hot heads & cool bodies: the conundrums of human BAT activity research.
      Eur J Intern Med. 2017; 10–3https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2016.12.023
      ] that discusses the findings observed in two studies comparing brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity and volume in healthy young white Caucasians and South Asians [
      • Admiraal W.M.
      • Verberne H.J.
      • Karamat F.A.
      • Soeters M.R.
      • Hoekstra J.B.L.
      • Holleman F.
      Cold-induced activity of brown adipose tissue in young lean men of South-Asian and European origin.
      Diabetologia. 2013; 56: 2231-2237https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-013-2938-5
      ,
      • Bakker L.E.H.
      • Boon M.R.
      • van der Linden R.A.
      • Arias-Bouda L.P.
      • van Klinken J.B.
      • Smit F.
      • et al.
      Brown adipose tissue volume in healthy lean south Asian adults compared with white Caucasians: a prospective, case-controlled observational study.
      Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014; 2: 210-217https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(13)70156-6
      ]. While Admiraal et al. [
      • Admiraal W.M.
      • Verberne H.J.
      • Karamat F.A.
      • Soeters M.R.
      • Hoekstra J.B.L.
      • Holleman F.
      Cold-induced activity of brown adipose tissue in young lean men of South-Asian and European origin.
      Diabetologia. 2013; 56: 2231-2237https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-013-2938-5
      ] found no differences in BAT activity and volume between groups, Bakker et al. [
      • Bakker L.E.H.
      • Boon M.R.
      • van der Linden R.A.
      • Arias-Bouda L.P.
      • van Klinken J.B.
      • Smit F.
      • et al.
      Brown adipose tissue volume in healthy lean south Asian adults compared with white Caucasians: a prospective, case-controlled observational study.
      Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014; 2: 210-217https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(13)70156-6
      ] reported lower BAT volume in South Asians, despite the fact that both studies were comparable in terms of age, body mass index, sex, ethnicity and country of the participants. Bahler et al. [
      • Bahler L.
      • Holleman F.
      • Booij J.
      • Hoekstra J.B.
      • Verberne H.J.
      Hot heads & cool bodies: the conundrums of human BAT activity research.
      Eur J Intern Med. 2017; 10–3https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2016.12.023
      ] argued that such discrepancy between studies could be due to the use of different cooling methods to activate BAT, i.e. air-conditioning [
      • Admiraal W.M.
      • Verberne H.J.
      • Karamat F.A.
      • Soeters M.R.
      • Hoekstra J.B.L.
      • Holleman F.
      Cold-induced activity of brown adipose tissue in young lean men of South-Asian and European origin.
      Diabetologia. 2013; 56: 2231-2237https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-013-2938-5
      ] vs. cooling blankets [
      • Bakker L.E.H.
      • Boon M.R.
      • van der Linden R.A.
      • Arias-Bouda L.P.
      • van Klinken J.B.
      • Smit F.
      • et al.
      Brown adipose tissue volume in healthy lean south Asian adults compared with white Caucasians: a prospective, case-controlled observational study.
      Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014; 2: 210-217https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(13)70156-6
      ]. They point to facial skin cold exposure, associated with air-conditioned cooling and not blanket-mediated cooling, as the possible key factor that would cause additional activation of BAT.

      Keywords

      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to European Journal of Internal Medicine
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Register: Create an account
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • Bahler L.
        • Holleman F.
        • Booij J.
        • Hoekstra J.B.
        • Verberne H.J.
        Hot heads & cool bodies: the conundrums of human BAT activity research.
        Eur J Intern Med. 2017; 10–3https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2016.12.023
        View in Article
        • Admiraal W.M.
        • Verberne H.J.
        • Karamat F.A.
        • Soeters M.R.
        • Hoekstra J.B.L.
        • Holleman F.
        Cold-induced activity of brown adipose tissue in young lean men of South-Asian and European origin.
        Diabetologia. 2013; 56: 2231-2237https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-013-2938-5
        View in Article
        • Bakker L.E.H.
        • Boon M.R.
        • van der Linden R.A.
        • Arias-Bouda L.P.
        • van Klinken J.B.
        • Smit F.
        • et al.
        Brown adipose tissue volume in healthy lean south Asian adults compared with white Caucasians: a prospective, case-controlled observational study.
        Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014; 2: 210-217https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(13)70156-6
        View in Article
        • van der Lans A.A.
        • Wierts R.
        • Vosselman M.J.
        • Schrauwen P.
        • Brans B.
        • van Marken Lichtenbelt W.D.
        Cold-activated brown adipose tissue in human adults: methodological issues.
        Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2014; 307: R103-R113https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00021.2014
        View in Article
        • Bahler L.
        • Deelen J.W.
        • Hoekstra J.B.
        • Holleman F.
        • Verberne H.J.
        Seasonal influence on stimulated BAT activity in prospective trials: a retrospective analysis of BAT visualized on 18F-FDG PET-CTs and 123I-mIBG SPECT-CTs.
        J Appl Physiol. 2016; 120: 1418-1423https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00008.2016
        View in Article
        • Yoneshiro T.
        • Matsushita M.
        • Nakae S.
        • Kameya T.
        • Sugie H.
        • Tanaka S.
        • et al.
        Brown adipose tissue is involved in the seasonal variation of cold-induced thermogenesis in humans.
        Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2016; (ajpregu.00057.2015)
        10.1152/ajpregu.00057.2015
        View in Article
        • Chen K.Y.
        • Cypess A.M.
        • Laughlin M.R.
        • Haft C.R.
        • Hu H.H.
        • Bredella M.A.
        • et al.
        Brown Adipose Reporting Criteria in Imaging STudies (BARCIST 1.0): recommendations for standardized FDG-PET/CT experiments in humans.
        Cell Metab. 2016; 24: 210-222https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2016.07.014
        View in Article
        • Brychta R.J.
        • Chen K.Y.
        Cold-induced thermogenesis in humans.
        Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016; 1–8https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.223
        View in Article
        • Boon M.R.
        • Bakker L.E.
        • van der Linden R.A.
        • Pereira Arias-Bouda L.
        • Smit F.
        • Verberne H.J.
        • et al.
        Supraclavicular skin temperature as a measure of 18F-FDG uptake by BAT in human subjects.
        PLoS One. 2014; 9e98822https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098822
        View in Article

      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: February 16, 2017
      Accepted: February 9, 2017
      Received: February 6, 2017

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2017.02.006

      Copyright

      © 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

      ScienceDirect

      Access this article on ScienceDirect

      Linked Article

      • Hot heads & cool bodies: The conundrums of human brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity research
        European Journal of Internal MedicineVol. 40
        • Preview
          Brown adipose tissue is able to increase energy expenditure by converting glucose and fatty acids into heat. Therefore, BAT is able to increase energy expenditure and could thereby facilitate weight loss or at least weight maintenance. Since cold is a strong activator of BAT, most prospective research is performed during cold to activate BAT. In current research, there are roughly two methods of cooling. Cooling by lowering ambient air temperature, which uses a fixed temperature for all subjects and personalized cooling, which uses cooling blankets or vests with temperatures that can be adjusted to the individual set point of shivering.
        • Full-Text
        • PDF
      • Reply to: Activation and quantification of human brown adipose tissue: Methodological considerations for between studies comparisons
        European Journal of Internal MedicineVol. 41
        • Preview
          We thank Martinez-Tellez and co-authors for their interest in our article. Martinez-Tellez et al. are quite right in their statement that there are more factors involved in activation of human BAT than we described in our article [1]. However, the main aim of our manuscript was to speculate on/discuss the potential influence of facial cooling in the activation of BAT and therefore we did not focus on other differences between the publication of Admiraal et al. and Bakker et al. [2,3].
        • Full-Text
        • PDF
      We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To update your cookie settings, please visit the for this site.
      Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. except certain content provided by third parties. The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals.


      RELX