Motivation: Investigating brown adipose tissue (BAT) non-invasively has attracted attention as BAT may serve as a target for treating metabolic diseases. Goal(s): To investigate meal-induced changes in activated human BAT. Approach: Ten volunteers received isocaloric meals after fasting (activation experiment). MRI was performed at baseline and one hour post-meal using 12-echo radial stack-of-stars Dixon scans to assess proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and T2*changes. MRI was also performed after fasting without meals (control experiment) at baseline and one hour post-fasting. Results: PDFF and T2* decreased significantly in the activation experiment compared to control. Both parameters showed a simultaneously decreasing trend in the same voxels. Impact: Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) is metabolically activated by meal consumption. Comparing proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and T2* changes between activation and control experiments, this study is the first to give insights into postprandial responses of BAT using MRI.
Raspe et al. (Tue,) studied this question.