QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Marchington, D. Articles by York, D. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Marchington, D. Articles by York, D. A.

Energy Balance, Diet-Induced Thermogenesis and Brown Adipose Tissue in Lean and Obese (fa/fa) Zucker Rats after Adrenalectomy^1,2,

D. Marchington^*, N. J. Rothwell, M. J. Stock^3, and D. A. York^*

^* Department of Nutrition, School of Biochemical and Physiological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO9 5NH, U.K. and Department of Physiology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, Tooting, London SW17 ORE, U.K.

Five-week-old male, lean (+/?) and genetically obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats received either bilateral adrenalectomy or sham operations, and energy balance was measured over the subsequent 21 days. Body weight and energy intake were similar for intact lean and obese rats, but the latter group showed a marked increase in body energy gain and energetic efficiency, and reduced energy expenditure. Adrenalectomy did not significantly influence energy balance in lean rats but caused decreases in food intake and body weight gain in obese rats, and restored their energetic efficiency and body energy gain to the level of lean animals. The lower thermic response to a single meal (40 kJ) in intact obese rats was restored to normal by adrenalectomy. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) mass was larger in sham-operated obese rats, but tissue protein concentration, mitochondrial yield and mitochondrial GDP binding were all markedly reduced in obese rats. BAT mass, composition and GDP binding were almost identical in adrenalectomized obese and all lean rats. These findings demonstrate that the reduced fat deposition in Zucker rats after adrenalectomy is mainly due to the large decrease in the efficiency of energy utilization associated with a restoration of brown fat activity.

KEY WORDS: • genetic obesity • adrenalectomy • thermogenesis • brown adipose tissue

¹ This work was supported by grants from the Royal Society (N.J.R.) and Imperial Chemical Industries, PLC.

² A preliminary report of these data was presented to the Nutrition Society, 10th Dec. 1982 and will appear as a short abstract.

³ To whom reprint requests should be addressed.

Manuscript received 20 December 1982.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Doyon, P. Samson, J. Lalonde, and D. Richard Effects of the CRF1 receptor antagonist SSR125543 on energy balance and food deprivation-induced neuronal activation in obese Zucker rats J. Endocrinol., April 1, 2007; 193(1): 11 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. CANNON and J. NEDERGAARD Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance Physiol Rev, January 1, 2004; 84(1): 277 - 359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]