Association of shivering threshold time with body composition and brown adipose tissue in young adults

Aashley S D Sardjoe Mishre; Borja Martinez-Tellez; Francisco M Acosta; Guillermo Sanchez-Delgado; Maaike E Straat; Andrew G Webb; Hermien E Kan; Patrick C N Rensen; Jonatan R Ruiz

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103277

Association of shivering threshold time with body composition and brown adipose tissue in young adults

J Therm Biol. 2022 Aug:108:103277. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103277. Epub 2022 Jun 7.

Authors

Aashley S D Sardjoe Mishre¹, Borja Martinez-Tellez², Francisco M Acosta³, Guillermo Sanchez-Delgado⁴, Maaike E Straat⁵, Andrew G Webb⁶, Hermien E Kan⁶, Patrick C N Rensen⁵, Jonatan R Ruiz⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology, C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: A.S.D.Sardjoe_Mishre@lumc.nl.
² Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute(iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Department of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences and SPORT Research Group(CTS-1024), CERNEP Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain. Electronic address: B.Martinez-Tellez@lumc.nl.
³ Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute(iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Turk PET Centre, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
⁴ Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute(iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Radiology, C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
⁷ Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute(iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.Granada, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: ruizj@ugr.es.

PMID: 36031206
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103277

Abstract

Purpose: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) increases metabolic heat production in response to cold exposure. Body size and composition are involved in the human cold response, yet the influence of BAT herein have not fully been explored. Here, we aimed to study the association of the cold-induced shivering threshold time with body composition, BAT, the perception of shivering and skin temperature in young adults.

Methods: 110 young healthy adults (81 females; age = 21.7 ± 2.1 years, BMI = 24.2 ± 4.3 kg/m²) underwent 2 h of individualized cooling, followed by the quantification of BAT using a¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose ([¹⁸F]FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan. Body mass index (BMI), lean mass, fat mass and body surface area (BSA) were also measured. Shivering threshold time was defined as the time until shivering occurred using an individualized cooling protocol.

Results: The shivering threshold time was on average 116.1 min for males and 125.8 min for females, and was positively associated to BMI (β = 3.106; R² = 0.141; p = 0.001), lean mass (β = 2.295; R² = 0.128; p = 0.001) and fat mass (β = 1.492; R² = 0.121; p = 0.001) in females, but not in males (all p ≥ 0.409). The shivering threshold time was positively associated with BSA in males (p = 0.047) and females (p = 0.001), but it was not associated with BAT volume or [¹⁸F]FDG uptake nor with the perception of shivering and skin temperature perception in both sexes.

Conclusion: The shivering threshold time is positively associated with whole-body adiposity and lean mass in females, but not in males. The shivering threshold time was positively associated with BSA, but no association was observed with BAT nor with the perception of shivering or skin temperature. Future research should consider the influence of body composition when applying cooling protocols among individuals with different phenotypical features.

Keywords: Cold perception; Shivering time; Thermogenesis; brown fat.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue, Brown*
Adult
Body Composition
Cold Temperature
Female
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
Humans
Male
Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
Shivering
Young Adult

Substances

Fluorodeoxyglucose F18