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MRI detection of brown fat potential tool in battling obesity, diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.

Researchers in England have detected energy-burning “brown fat” through MRI for the first time, marking an advance toward new therapeutic treatments for people with obesity or at high risk for diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

“The MRI allows us to distinguish between the brown fat, and the more well-known white fat that people associate with weight gain, due to the different water-to-fat ratio of the two tissue types. We can use the scans to highlight what we term ‘regions of interest’ that can help us to build a picture of where the brown fat is located,” Thomas Barber, MBBS, DPhil, from the department of metabolic and vascular health at Warwick Medical School, said in a press release.

Thomas Barber, MBBS, DPhil

Thomas Barber

A team from Warwick Medical School and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust used MRI to identify the presence of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in a 25-year-old woman with hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome who recently had a parathyroidectomy. A PET-CT scan following surgery ruled out malignancy but showed uptake in the mediastinum, neck, supraclavicular fossae and axillae, consistent with BAT.

The scientists performed immunohistochemical staining on a fat sample from the suprasternal area and a subsequent series of MRIs. Regions of interest were retrospectively identified on MRIs corresponding to areas of high uptake on PET-CT; they were also prospectively identified on MRIs based on signal intensity and appearance and compared with PET-CT.

Of 111 regions retrospectively identified from PET-CT, 93 (83.8%) showed corresponding low signal on MRI: 25 of 25 mediastinum (100%), 29 of 31 neck (93.5%), 31 of 41 supraclavicular (75.6%) and 8 of 14 axillae (57%). Of 54 regions prospectively identified from MRI, 47 (87%) showed a corresponding increased uptake on PET-CT. The sample obtained during surgery corresponded with high uptake and low signal on subsequent PET and MRIs, respectively, and immunohistochemistry confirmed BAT.

“The potential is there for us to develop safe and effective ways of activating this brown fat to promote weight loss and increase energy expenditure,” Barber said. “But we need more data to be able to get to that point.”

Disclosures: The study was supported by a Strategic Impact Fund grant from the University of Warwick.

From http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/obesity/news

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