BMP8 and activated brown adipose tissue in human newborns

Adela Urisarri,Ismael González-García,Natalia Mandiá,Edward Milbank,Carlos A Salgado,María P Pata,Francesc Villarroya,María L Couce,Ánxela Estévez-Salguero,Miguel López,Noemi López,Carmen Grijota-Martinez,José-Manuel Fernández-Real,Rubén Nogueiras,Carlos Diéguez

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25456-z

Abstract

The classical dogma states that brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a major role in the regulation of temperature in neonates. However, although BAT has been studied in infants for more than a century, the knowledge about its physiological features at this stage of life is rather limited. This has been mainly due to the lack of appropriate investigation methods, ethically suitable for neonates. Here, we have applied non-invasive infrared thermography (IRT) to investigate neonatal BAT activity. Our data show that BAT temperature correlates with body temperature and that mild cold stimulus promotes BAT activation in newborns. Notably, a single short-term cold stimulus during the first day of life improves the body temperature adaption to a subsequent cold event. Finally, we identify that bone morphogenic protein 8B (BMP8B) is associated with the BAT thermogenic response in neonates. Overall, our data uncover key features of the setup of BAT thermogenesis in newborns.

Highlights

The classical dogma states that brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a major role in the regulation of temperature in neonates
It is well-established for more than 60 years that neonatal hypothermia is associated with higher mortality, directly or indirectly, as comorbidity associated with infections, preterm birth, or intracranial hemorrhage[1,2,3,4]
Here, we report a functional link between BAT thermogenesis and regulation of body temperature in human newborns

Summary

Introduction

The classical dogma states that brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a major role in the regulation of temperature in neonates. BAT has been studied in infants for more than a century, the knowledge about its physiological features at this stage of life is rather limited This has been mainly due to the lack of appropriate investigation methods, ethically suitable for neonates. The main reasons are the ethical constraints (radiation exposure and previous fasting) of performing 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (18F‐FDG)-based positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) studies in healthy newborns, an approach that has been extensively used to investigate BAT in adult subjects[17,18,19,20] We overcame these limitations by applying non-invasive infrared thermography (IRT)[21,22,23,24,25,26] to investigate BAT-induced thermogenesis in healthy human neonates. The aim of this study has been to investigate the functional link between BAT thermogenesis and the regulation of body temperature in human newborns, as well as the possible association with metabolic and endocrine, correlates modulating neonatal BAT function

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Conclusion