Sexual dimorphism of brown adipose tissue function

Robinson, Lindsay J.; Law, James; Astle, Valerie; Gutiérrez García, Marta; Ohja, Shalini; Symonds, Michael E.; Pitchford, Nicola; Budge, Helen

Abstract

Objective
To determine whether brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity in school-age children differs between the sexes and to explore the impact of dietary intake, sedentary behavior, and picky/fussy eating.

Study design
Children aged 8.5-11.8 years of age (n = 36) underwent infrared thermography to determine the temperature of the skin overlying the main superficial BAT depot in the supraclavicular region before and after 5 minutes of mild cold exposure (single-hand immersion in cool tap water at about 20°C). The relationships between the supraclavicular region temperature and parental reports of food consumption, eating behavior, and inactivity were explored.

Results
The supraclavicular region temperature was higher in boys (n = 16) at baseline, and after cold exposure. Boys displayed a greater thermogenic response to cold. Strong negative correlations were observed between the supraclavicular region temperature and body mass index percentile, and differences in supraclavicular region temperature between girls and boys persisted after adjustment for body mass index percentile. A negative linear relationship was observed between protein and vegetable intake and supraclavicular region temperature in girls only, but did not persist after adjustment for multiple comparisons. There was no difference in the adjusted supraclavicular region temperature between active or inactive children, or picky and nonpicky eaters.

Conclusions
These findings indicate sexual dimorphism in BAT thermogenic activity and a sex-specific impact of diet. Future studies should aim to quantify the contribution of BAT to childhood energy expenditure, energy imbalance, and any role in the origins of childhood obesity.

Citation

Robinson, L. J., Law, J., Astle, V., Gutiérrez García, M., Ohja, S., Symonds, M. E., …Budge, H. (2019). Sexual dimorphism of brown adipose tissue function. Journal of Pediatrics, 210, 166-172.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.03.003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 5, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 9, 2019
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Pediatrics
• Print ISSN: 0022-3476
• Electronic ISSN: 1097-6833
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 210
• Pages: 166-172.e1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.03.003
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1730763
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022347619302902?via%3Dihub
• Contract Date: Apr 2, 2019