Quantitative assessment of brown adipose tissue whitening in a high-fat-diet murine model using synthetic magnetic resonance imaging
Mengjuan Huo,
Junzhao Ye,
Yinhong Zhang,
Meng Wang,
Jialu Zhang,
Shi-Ting Feng,
Huasong Cai,
Bihui Zhong,
Zhi Dong
Affiliations
Mengjuan Huo
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China; Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 111 Dade Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou 510120, China
Junzhao Ye
Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China
Yinhong Zhang
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China
Meng Wang
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China
Jialu Zhang
MRI Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing 10076, China
Shi-Ting Feng
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China
Huasong Cai
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China; Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Bihui Zhong
Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China; Corresponding author. Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Zhi Dong
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou 510080, China; Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Purpose: This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the whitening process of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in mice using synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (SyMRI) and analyzed the correlation between SyMRI quantitative measurements of BAT and serum lipid profiles. Methods: Fifteen C57BL/6 mice were divided into three groups and fed different diets as follows: normal chow diet for 12 weeks, NCD group; high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks, HFD-12w group; and HFD for 36 weeks, HFD-36w group. Mice were scanned using 3.0 T SyMRI. T1 and T2 values of BAT and interscapular BAT (iBAT) volume were measured. After sacrifice, the body weight of mice, lipid profiles, BAT morphology, and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) levels were determined. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Bonferroni correction for pairwise comparisons. Bonferroni-adjusted significance level was set at P < 0.017 (alpha: 0.05/3 = 0.017). Results: T2 values of BAT in the HFD-12w group were significantly higher than those in the NCD group (P < 0.001), and those in the HFD-36w group were significantly higher than those in the other two groups (both P < 0.001). The iBAT volume in the HFD-36w group was significantly higher than that in the HFD-12w (P = 0.013) and NCD groups (P = 0.005). T2 values of BAT and iBAT volume were significantly correlated with serum lipid profiles and mouse body weight. Conclusions: SyMRI can noninvasively evaluate the whitening process of BAT using T2 values and iBAT volume, thereby facilitating the visualization of the whitening process.
