David Jimenez-Pavon, Juan Corral-Perez, David S\u00e1nchez-Infantes, Francesc Villarroya, Jonatan R. Ruiz, and Borja Martinez-Tellez.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Objective:<\/strong> Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a thermogenic tissue with potential as a therapeutic target in the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders. The most used technique for quantifying human BAT activity is the measurement of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake via a positron emission tomography\/computed tomography scan following exposure to cold. However, several studies have indicated the measurement of the supraclavicular skin temperature (SST) by infrared thermography (IRT) to be a less invasive alternative. This work reviews the state of the art of this latter method as a means of determining BAT activity in humans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Methods:<\/strong> The data sources for this review were PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost (SPORTdiscus), and eligible studies were those conducted in humans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Results:<\/strong> In most studies in which participants were first cooled, an increase in IRT-measured SST was noted. However, only 5 of 24 such studies also involved a nuclear technique that confirmed increased activity in BAT, and only 2 took into account the thickness of the fat layer when measuring SST by IRT.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n