Can non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue following NA injection be quantified by changes in overlying surface temperatures using infrared thermography?

We aimed to investigate whether infra red thermography (IRT) can be used to measure and quantify non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) in the short-tailed field vole Microtus agrestis, by directly comparing it with a standard met hod, i.e. metabolic response following Noradrenaline injection (NA). Mean s kin surface temperature overlying Brown adipose tissue (BAT) depot was 0.82 degreesC higher than mean surface temperature that did not overly BAT. The difference in temperature increased by 1.26 degreesC after NA was administ ered. Mean skin surface temperature overlying BAT increased by 0.32 degrees C after NA was administered; however, surface temperature decreased by 1.32 degreesC after saline was administered. Mean skill surface temperature ove rlying BAT did not change significantly between warm and cold acclimated vo les; in contrast metabolic peak following NA injection significantly increa sed in cold acclimated voles. There was no significant correlation between change in surface temperature after NA injection and metabolic peak followi ng NA injection. The results of this study suggest that IRT is not a sensit ive enough method to measure changes in NST capacity in BAT following NA in jection, or to detect changes in NST capacity induced by cold acclimation. However, IRT call distinguish between skin surfaces overlying BAT and skin surfaces that do not. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.