Cristina Garcia-Beltran1,2, Rubén Cereijo3,4,5, Cristina Plou1, Aleix Gavaldà-Navarro3,4, Rita Malpique1,2, Joan Villarroya3,4, Abel López-Bermejo6, Francis de Zegher7, Lourdes Ibáñez1,2, Francesc Villarroya3,4. 1. Endocrinology Department, Research Institute Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, 08950 Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain. 2. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), ISCIII, 28029, Madrid, Spain. 3. Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedicine Department, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Barcelona & Research Institute Sant Joan de Déu, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. 4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), ISCIII, 28029, Madrid, Spain. 5. Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain. 6. Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Josep Trueta Hospital, 17007 Girona, and Girona Institute for Biomedical Research, 17007 Girona, Spain. 7. Department of Development & Regeneration, University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract
CONTEXT: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is particularly abundant in neonates, but its association with measures of adiposity and metabolic health in early infancy is poorly delineated. Besides sustaining nonshivering thermogenesis, BAT secretes brown adipokines that act on systemic metabolism. The chemokine CXCL14 has been identified as a brown adipokine in experimental studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationships among BAT activity, adiposity, and circulating CXCL14 levels in the first year of life in girls and boys. METHODS: Indices of fat accretion, circulating endocrine-metabolic parameters and serum CXCL14 levels were assessed longitudinally in a cohort of infants at birth and at 4 and 12 months. BAT activity was estimated using infrared thermography only at age 12 months.The main outcome measures were weight and length Z-scores, total and abdominal fat content (by dual X-ray absorptiometry), BAT activity at the posterior cervical and supraclavicular regions, serum levels of glucose, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, high-molecular-weight adiponectin, and CXCL14; CXCL14 transcript levels in neonatal BAT and liver. RESULTS: Posterior cervical BAT was more active in girls than in boys (P = .02). BAT activity was negatively associated with adiposity parameters only in girls. CXCL14 levels were higher in girls than in boys at age 12 months and correlated positively with the area of active posterior cervical BAT in girls. Neonatal BAT showed high CXCL14 gene expression levels. CONCLUSION: BAT activity and the levels of CXCL14-a potential surrogate of BAT activity-are sex specific in the first year of life. Posterior cervical BAT activity associates negatively with indices of adiposity only in girls.
CONTEXT: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is particularly abundant in neonates, but its association with measures of adiposity and metabolic health in early infancy is poorly delineated. Besides sustaining nonshivering thermogenesis, BAT secretes brown adipokines that act on systemic metabolism. The chemokine CXCL14 has been identified as a brown adipokine in experimental studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationships among BAT activity, adiposity, and circulating CXCL14 levels in the first year of life in girls and boys. METHODS: Indices of fat accretion, circulating endocrine-metabolic parameters and serum CXCL14 levels were assessed longitudinally in a cohort of infants at birth and at 4 and 12 months. BAT activity was estimated using infrared thermography only at age 12 months.The main outcome measures were weight and length Z-scores, total and abdominal fat content (by dual X-ray absorptiometry), BAT activity at the posterior cervical and supraclavicular regions, serum levels of glucose, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, high-molecular-weight adiponectin, and CXCL14; CXCL14 transcript levels in neonatal BAT and liver. RESULTS: Posterior cervical BAT was more active in girls than in boys (P = .02). BAT activity was negatively associated with adiposity parameters only in girls. CXCL14 levels were higher in girls than in boys at age 12 months and correlated positively with the area of active posterior cervical BAT in girls. Neonatal BAT showed high CXCL14 gene expression levels. CONCLUSION: BAT activity and the levels of CXCL14-a potential surrogate of BAT activity-are sex specific in the first year of life. Posterior cervical BAT activity associates negatively with indices of adiposity only in girls.
Authors: Cristina Garcia-Beltran; Joan Villarroya; Cristina Plou; Aleix Gavaldà-Navarro; Paula Casano; Rubén Cereijo; Francis de Zegher; Abel López-Bermejo; Lourdes Ibáñez; Francesc Villarroya Journal: Front Pediatr Date: 2022-03-24 Impact factor: 3.418