PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Brown adipose tissue in the buccal fat pad during infancy.

  • Skorn Ponrartana,
  • Shilpa Patil,
  • Patricia C Aggabao,
  • Zdena Pavlova,
  • Sherin U Devaskar,
  • Vicente Gilsanz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089533
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 2
p. e89533

Abstract

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BackgroundThe buccal fat pad (BFP) is an encapsulated mass of adipose tissue thought to enhance the sucking capabilities of the masticatory muscles during infancy. To date, no conclusive evidence has been provided as to the composition of the BFP in early postnatal life.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine whether the BFP of neonates and infants is primarily composed of white adipose tissue (WAT) or brown adipose tissue (BAT).Materials and methodsThe percentage of fat in the BFP in 32 full-term infants (16 boys and 16 girls), aged one day to 10.6 months, was measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) determinations of fat fraction.ResultsBFP fat fraction increased with age (r = 0.67; PConclusionThe BFP is primarily composed of BAT during the first weeks of life, but of WAT thereafter. Studies are needed to investigate the contributions of BAT in the BFP to infant feeding and how it is altered by postnatal nutrition.