Intermittent Cold Exposure Enhances Fat Accumulation in Mice |
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| Authors: | Hyung sun Yoo Liping Qiao Chris Bosco Lok-Hei Leong Nikki Lytle Gen-Sheng Feng Nai-Wen Chi Jianhua Shao |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.; 2. Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.; 3. Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare system, and Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.; Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Japan, |
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| Abstract: | Due to its high energy consuming characteristics, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has been suggested as a key player in energy metabolism. Cold exposure is a physiological activator of BAT. Intermittent cold exposure (ICE), unlike persistent exposure, is clinically feasible. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether ICE reduces adiposity in C57BL/6 mice. Surprisingly, we found that ICE actually increased adiposity despite enhancing Ucp1 expression in BAT and inducing beige adipocytes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue. ICE did not alter basal systemic insulin sensitivity, but it increased liver triglyceride content and secretion rate as well as blood triglyceride levels. Gene profiling further demonstrated that ICE, despite suppressing lipogenic gene expression in white adipose tissue and liver during cold exposure, enhanced lipogenesis between the exposure periods. Together, our results indicate that despite enhancing BAT recruitment, ICE in mice increases fat accumulation by stimulating de novo lipogenesis. |
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