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projected onto the surface of the skin. Modern
thermal imaging matrix technology allows
completely harmless and non-invasive study of the
distribution of thermal fields on the surface of the
human body, and this kind of dynamic thermogram
can be used successfully to identify the active brown
fat in humans (Lee et al., 2011; Sacks and Symonds,
2013), which, as shown by PET studies in
combination with histochemical study biopsies, is
most often located in adults’ neck and
supraclavicular depots (Sacks and Symonds, 2013;
Cypess et al., 2009; Virtanen, 2009).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the
dynamic changes of maximum surface temperature
in the upper half of the back and dorsal surface of
the neck in conjunction with the content of blood
lactate during exhaustive physical work and
recovery hoping to find signs of lactate utilization
by BAT.
2 ORGANIZATION AND
METHODS
The investigation was conducted at the Moscow
State Centre for athletes testing. Treadmill ramp test
was used as a model of strenuous exercise. The
standard initial belt speed was 7 km / h, it was
increased every 10 s at 0.1 km / h. 5 healthy
physically active men volunteers aged 20-35
participated in the experiment. Before the load test,
all the participants were granted access - conclusion
of a cardiologist, and gave written informed consent
to participate in the research. The research program
was approved by the Ethics Committee RSUPE.
Morphological and functional characteristics of
the subjects are shown in table 1.
At rest, during the test, and within 10 minutes of
recovery some physiological parameters of the
subjects were recorded: heart rate (HR), ventilation,
and gas exchange. At rest, before the beginning of
the test and then every 2-3 minutes during work and
recovery blood samples were collected from the
distal phalanx of the finger, for the determination of
glucose and lactate. The anaerobic threshold value
was determined individually by the dynamics of
blood lactate level under the control of pulmonary
ventilation (PV) and СО2 emission.
Used equipment: treadmill HP Cosmos, gas
analyzer Metamax 3B, heart rate monitor Polar RX
800, glucose and lactate analyzer Biosen C-line,
infra-red video camera NEC TH 9100SL.
Dynamic registration of thermogram was
produced in video mode with a frequency of 4
frames / s, while the imager was located at a height
of 1.4 m above ground level at a distance of 3 m
from the subject, being on a treadmill. While
processing the thermogram with the help of the
specialized software Image Processor ® current
maximum temperature at selected area of the skin
(Fig. 1) reflecting the thermal radiation projection of
most heated subcutaneous structures was fixed.
Room temperature was maintained at 21-22 °C.
Thermogram registration started after 10-15 minutes
of adaptation to the test room temperature.
Statistical analysis of the results was performed
by means of MS Excel.
3 RESULTS
Fig. 1 shows examples of infrared thermal images,
on the basis of which the maximum temperature on
the selected area of the skin surface of the back and
neck was calculated. Dotted line at the
thermogramms allocates surface area of the back,
including the back of the neck, where the maximum
temperature was automatically recorded throughout
the experiment in the video at 4 frames per second.
As seen from the thermograms the hottest areas of
the skin at all stages of the experiment are found at
the back of the neck.
Before performing the test, most of the selected
surface of the back and neck has a temperature in the
range 32,5-33,0°C. During work at speeds below the
anaerobic (lactic) threshold skin surface cools back
through perspiration, and only in the neck keeps the
temperature above 32°C. When the work is
completed, the back surface thermogram represents
a mosaic picture, which contains some parts of a
fairly high temperature, interspersed with the areas
that remain cold. The hottest areas in this case are on
the skin of the neck, under which, as is known, loci
BAT depots are located.
Dynamic changes in temperature of each of our
subjects in conjunction with the dynamics of lactate
and glucose in the peripheral blood are shown in
Fig. 2. It is clearly seen that all five subjects show
the same pattern: the temperature of the skin during
the period of adaptation to the experimental
conditions is either declining slightly or does not
change, then it is gradually decreasing during the
execution of ramp test, reaching a minimum at a
speed of 11-13 km / hour, and then begins to
increase rapidly and reaches a maximum at the time
of the refusal of work or a bit later. During the
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