Regulation of human brown adipose tissue by adenosine and A2A receptors – studies with [15O]H2O and [11C]TMSX PET/CT

Purpose Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has emerged as a potential target to combat obesity and diabetes, but novel strategies to activate BAT are needed. Adenosine and A2A receptor (A2AR) agonism activate BAT in rodents, and endogenous adenosine is released locally in BAT as a by-product of noradrenaline, but physiological data from humans is lacking. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of exogenous adenosine on human BAT perfusion, and to determine the density of A2ARs in human BAT in vivo for the first time, using PET/CT imaging.