Table 5.
Summary of terms and abbreviations used to refer to different subtypes of BMAT and BMAds.
| Term used | Abbreviation | Year first used* | No. of papers using this term* | Recommended term(s) and abbreviation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CONSTITUTIVE OR REGULATED BMAT AND BMAds | ||||
| Constitutive marrow adipose tissue | cMAT | 2014 | 26 | Use of cBMAT, cBMAd, rBMAT, and rBMAd is acceptable (But when discussing subtypes, it is preferable to refer to skeletal location of the BMAT and BMAds) |
| Constitutive MAT | 2017 | 1 | ||
| Constitutive bone marrow adipose tissue | cBMAT | 2017 | 7 | |
| Constitutive BMAT | 2017 | 2 | ||
| Constitutive bone marrow adipocyte | cMAT adipocyte | 2015 | 6 | |
| cBMA | 2016 | 7 | ||
| Regulated marrow adipose tissue | rMAT adipocyte | 2014 | 26 | |
| Regulated MAT | 2017 | 1 | ||
| Regulated bone marrow adipose tissue | rBMAT | 2017 | 7 | |
| Regulated BMAT | 2017 | 2 | ||
| Regulated bone marrow adipocyte | rMAT adipocyte | 2015 | 6 | |
| rBMA | 2016 | 8 | ||
| – | 2017 | 1 | ||
| DISTAL OR PROXIMAL BMAT AND BMAds | ||||
| Distal marrow adipose tissue | distal MAT | 2016 | 1 | Use “distal” or “proximal” to refer to BMAT/BMAd location within long bones |
| Distal marrow fat | – | 1979 | 1 | |
| Distal tibia marrow adipose tissue | dMAT | 2017 | 1 | |
| Proximal marrow adipose tissue | Proximal MAT | 2016 | 1 | |
| Proximal marrow fat | – | 1979 | 1 | |
| Proximal tibia marrow adipose tissue | pMAT | 2017 | 1 | |
| BONE-SPECIFIC TERMS | ||||
| Femoral adipose cell | – | 1977 | 1 | When required, use bone-specific terms to indicate location of BMAT or BMAds (see text for further details) |
| Femur marrow fat | FMF | 1984 | 1 | |
| Tibial adipose bone marrow | – | 1985 | 1 | |
| Vertebrae adipose cell | – | 1977 | 1 | |
| Vertebral fat | – | 1989 | 1 | |
| Intravertebral bone marrow fat | – | 2002 | 1 | |
| Vertebral bone marrow fat | – | 2012 | 1 | |
| VMB fat | 2017 | 1 | ||
| Vertebral BMAT | vBMAT | 2018 | 1 | |
| Vertebral marrow fat | – | 2012 | 1 | |
| Vertebral MAT | vMAT | 2018 | 1 | |
| BMAT WITHIN RED OR YELLOW MARROW | ||||
| Red marrow fat | – | 1940 | 2 | Don't use |
| Red bone marrow fat | – | 2001 | 2 | |
| RBM fat | 2019 | 1 | ||
| Red marrow adipose tissue | rMAT | 2018 | 2 | |
| Yellow marrow adipose tissue | yMAT | 2018 | 2 | |
Data are presented as described for Table 2; asterisks (*) are shown in the column headers to emphasise that other uses may exist. When necessary, we recommend indicating site-specific differences in BMAT/BMAd subtypes by referring to the skeletal site (e.g., “femoral,” “tibial,” “vertebral”) and the location within these bones (e.g., “proximal” or “distal”). Use of “constitutive” or “regulated” is also acceptable, with the recommended acronyms being cBMAT, cBMAd, rBMAT, and rBMAd, consistent with the recommended nomenclature for bone marrow adipocytes (BMAd) and bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT). Further considerations are provided in the main text. References for papers using each combination of term and abbreviation are provided in Supplementary Table 4.