This article is available online at http://www.jlr.org body temperature maintenance of small eutherian mammals and newborns during periods of cold exposure. BAT thermogenesis is activated by the release of noradrenaline (NA) from sympathetic innervation. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in the inner mitochondrial membrane of the brown adipocytes uncouples the respiratory chain from ATP synthesis and thus energy is dissipated as heat ( 1-3 ). Prolonged cold exposure or a short photoperiod induces the recruitment of BAT ( 4-6 ). Brown adipocytes of coldadapted mice, contain small and multilocular lipid vacuoles, which are rich in cytoplasm and have a high content of mitochondrial protein (7)(8)(9). This provides an enhanced thermogenic capacity during cold exposure, and BAT can be considered as the major site of adaptive nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) in rodents and other small mammals ( 4, 10-12 ).The breakdown of lipids via lipoprotein lipase plays an important role during UCP1-mediated heat production ( 13 ). Free fatty acids (FFAs) directly activate UCP1 and feed the respiratory chain, i.e., FFAs are the major substrate for NST ( 14,15 ). Therefore active BAT is considered as a main consumer of lipids and FFAs and its contribution to plasma clearance of administered triglycerides has been shown previously ( 16,17 ). On the other hand a release of fatty acids during thermogenesis from BAT has been assumed, indicating a substrate supply to other tissues ( 18,19 ). Sympathetic activation by cold exposure or injections of NA not only activate BAT but also stimulate sympathetic receptors in general, leading to an increase in heart rate, blood flow, and metabolic responses in other tissues. The contribution of these UCP1-independent processes to total NST remain unclear ( 20, 21 ).Abstract We used noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy to compare interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) of wild-type (WT) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-knockout mice lacking UCP1-mediated nonshivering thermogenesis (NST). Mice were sequentially acclimated to an ambient temperature of 30°C, 18°C, and 5°C. We detected a remodeling of iBAT and a decrease in its lipid content in all mice during cold exposure. Ratios of energy-rich phosphates (ATP/ADP, phosphocreatine/ATP) in iBAT were maintained stable during noradrenergic stimulation of thermogenesis in coldand warm-adapted mice and no difference between the genotypes was observed. As free fatty acids (FFAs) serve as fuel for thermogenesis and activate UCP1 for uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, brown adipose tissue is considered to be a main acceptor and consumer of FFAs. We measured a major loss of FFAs from iBAT during noradrenergic stimulation of thermogenesis. This mobilization of FFAs was observed in iBAT of WT mice as well as in mice lacking UCP1. The high turnover and the release of FFAs from iBAT suggests an enhancement of lipid metabolism, which in itself contributes to the sympathetically activated NST and which is independent fro...

Object:In this work an 8-channel array integrated into the gap between the gradient coil and bore liner of a 7-Tesla whole-body magnet is presented that would allow a workflow closer to that of systems at lower magnetic fields that have a built-in body coil; this integrated coil is compared to a local 8-channel array built from identical elements placed directly on the patient. Results: While the remote array shows a slightly better performance in terms of (B + 1 ) homogeneity, the power efficiency and the SAR efficiency are inferior to those of the local array: the transmit voltage has to be increased by a factor of 3.15 to achieve equal flip angles in a central axial slice. The g-factor calculations show a better parallel imaging g-factor for the local array. The field of view of the integrated array is larger than that of the local array. First in vivo images with the integrated array look subjectively promising. Conclusion:Although some RF performance parameters of the integrated array are inferior to a tight-fitting local array, these disadvantages might be compensated by the use of amplifiers with higher power and the use of local receive arrays. In addition, the distant placement provides the potential to include more elements in the array design.

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