Abstract #3908

Non-Invasive Identification of Functional Brown Adipose Tissue in Rodents Using Hyperpolarized 13C Imaging

Angus Z. Lau¹,², Albert P. Chen³, Michelle Ladouceur-Wodzak¹, Krishna S. Nayak⁴, Charles H. Cunningham¹,²

¹Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ²Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ³GE Healthcare, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ⁴Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The recent identification of functional brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans has implications for the treatment of obesity. In this study, dynamic, spatially resolved hyperpolarized 13C imaging was used to non-invasively identify functional BAT in vivo in a rodent model. BAT was activated using intraperitoneal injection of norepinephrine and detected following infusion of pre-polarized 13C pyruvate. Increases in 13C bicarbonate (3.7-fold) and 13C lactate (3.5-fold) signal in the interscapular region correspond to a known rodent BAT deposit. The radiation-free nature of this imaging exam may potentially facilitate trials of therapeutics targeting BAT activation in humans.