Assessment of brown adipose tissue activity in rats by99mTc- sestamibi uptake

Abstract

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) physiology and imaging have recently attracted considerable attention. BAT is characterized both by enhanced perfusion and increased mitochondrial activity. 99mTc-sestamibi is a lipophilic cationic tracer that concentrates in mitochondria. Data on the accumulation of 99mTc-sestamibi in BAT are currently lacking. This study investigates the in vivo 99mTc-sestamibi uptake in rat BAT. 99mTc- sestamibi was administered in male Wistar rats of various age and body size. 99mTc-sestamibi uptake was measured in vitro in BAT and white fat (WF) together with cytochrome c oxidase activity. Both 99mTc- sestamibi uptake and cytochrome c oxidase activity were higher in BAT than in WF (P<0.05). 99mTc-Sestamibi uptake in both BAT and WF was negatively related to body weight (r = -0.96 and -0.89, respectively) as was the BAT/WF uptake ratio (r = -0.85). These data show a higher 99mTc- sestamibi uptake in BAT compared to WF, in agreement with the high mitochondrial content and respiratory activity of the former. The strong negative correlation between 99mTc-sestamibi uptake in BAT and body weight (negative allometry), is in accordance to increased needs of thermogenesis in smaller animals. Implications of increased 99mTc-sestamibi uptake in BAT in radionuclide imaging are also discussed. © 2006 Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.