Metabolic imaging in obesity: underlying mechanisms and consequences in the whole body

Obesity is a phenotype resulting from a series of causative factors with a variable risk of complications. Etiologic diversity requires personalized prevention and treatment. Imaging procedures offer the potential to investigate the interplay between organs and pathways underlying energy intake and consumption in an integrated manner, and may open the perspective to classify and treat obesity according to causative mechanisms. This review illustrates the contribution provided by imaging studies to the understanding of human obesity, starting with the regulation of food intake and intestinal metabolism, followed by the role of adipose tissue in storing, releasing, and utilizing substrates, including the interconversion of white and brown fat, and concluding with the examination of imaging risk indicators related to complications, including type 2 diabetes, liver pathologies, cardiac and kidney diseases, and sleep disorders. The imaging modalities include (1) positron emission tomography to quantify organ-specific perfusion and substrate metabolism; (2) computed tomography to assess tissue density as an indicator of fat content and browning/ whitening; (3) ultrasounds to examine liver steatosis, stiffness, and inflammation; and (4) magnetic resonance techniques to assess blood oxygenation levels in the brain, liver stiffness, and metabolite contents (triglycerides, fatty acids, glucose, phosphocreatine, ATP, and acetylcarnitine) in a variety of organs.