Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is an organ specialized in macromolecule combustion in order to produce heat. Because of its high capacity to dissipate energy, it is currently among the best hopes for future treatments of obesity and diabetes. BAT is permeated by a vast capillary network that delivers blood rich in oxygen and nutrients to supply the high metabolic needs of the tissue. At the same time, metabolites, carbon dioxide and warm blood are drained back into systemic circulation. Blood flow is in fact a limiting factor for thermogenesis. Therefore, understanding BAT blood flow regulation is a crucial step for describing the tissue function. This thesis aims to summarize anatomical descriptions, to discuss the methodological evolution of the field, and to synthetize what we have learned about mechanistic regulation of BAT blood flow during the last half century. Manuscript I introduces a new method (high-resolution laser-doppler imaging) for the measurement of BAT blood flow, and gives mechanistic insights about its physiological regulation. Manuscript II focuses on the influence of bombesin receptor subtype-3 on the neurological control of body temperature and thermogenesis.

Mammal metabolism is intimately connected to the maintenance of body temperature. While metabolic pathways invariably produce heat as a by-product, the natural heat present in the environment also plays a role in defining the adaptive metabolism and general physiology of an organism. This thesis aims to discuss basic aspects of energy expenditure and their interactions with energy stores and body composition. In Paper I, we apply a new technique – high-resolution laser-Doppler imaging – to describe physiological regulatory features of adrenergically-stimulated blood flow in brown adipose tissue, and evaluate the validity of blood flow as a parameter to estimate nonshivering thermogenesis. Paper II focuses on the central regulation of body temperature. In the absence of bombesin receptor subtype-3, mice present an altered neurological body temperature setpoint, while peripheral thermogenic capacity remains intact. We conclude that brown adipose tissue malfunction is not the cause of the hypothermia observed in this mouse model. Paper III incorporates measurements of body temperature to the energy expenditure of different sources: basal metabolic rate, physical activity, thermic effect of food, and cold-induced thermogenesis. We describe basic aspects of dynamic insulation, energetic costs of circadian variation and hypothesize that physical activity may change the body temperature setpoint. Paper IV describes methodological issues related to glucose tolerance tests in obese mice. We conclude that the erroneous scaling of doses may affect the interpretation of metabolic health in mouse models, and suggest a new methodology. Paper V describes the outcomes caused by the expression of the human Cidea protein in adipose tissue of mice and suggests that this protein may clarify the link between adipose tissue expansion and healthy obesity. Paper VI explores the dissociation between thiazolidinedione-induced adipose tissue “browning” and reduced blood glycaemia. We demonstrate that although this pharmacological class tends to induce some level of brown adipose tissue recruitment, this phenomenon does not define its antidiabetic effects.

Routine procedures for glucose tolerance test in rodents utilize an amount of injected glucose that is proportional to total body weight (normally 2 mg per g body weight). Obese mice consist of much more chemically inert lipid than lean mice but have only marginal increases in lean body mass (the only compartment where glucose is distributed). Present procedures thus inevitably lead to a diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance and enhanced insulin levels in obesity. Routine procedures should use fixed glucose amounts per lean body mass (or per mouse).

In humans, Cidea (cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor alpha-like effector A) is highly but variably expressed in white fat, and expression correlates with metabolic health. Here we generate transgenic mice expressing human Cidea in adipose tissues (aP2-hCidea mice) and show that Cidea is mechanistically associated with a robust increase in adipose tissue expandability. Under humanized conditions (thermoneutrality, mature age and prolonged exposure to high-fat diet), aP2-hCidea mice develop a much more pronounced obesity than their wild-type littermates. Remarkably, the malfunctioning of visceral fat normally caused by massive obesity is fully overcome-perilipin 1 and Akt expression are preserved, tissue degradation is prevented, macrophage accumulation is decreased and adiponectin expression remains high. Importantly, the aP2-hCidea mice display enhanced insulin sensitivity. Our data establish a functional role for Cidea and suggest that, in humans, the association between Cidea levels in white fat and metabolic health is not only correlative but also causative.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis relies on blood flow to be supplied with nutrients and oxygen, and for the distribution of the generated heat to the rest of the body. It is therefore fundamental to understand the mechanisms by which blood flow is regulated and its relation to thermogenesis. Here we present high-resolution laser-Doppler imaging (HR-LDR) as a novel method for noninvasive, in vivo measurement of BAT blood flow in mice. Using HR-LDR, we found that norepinephrine stimulation increases BAT blood flow in a dose-dependent manner, and that this response is profoundly modulated by environmental temperature acclimation. Surprisingly, we found that mice lacking uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) have fully preserved BAT blood flow response to norepinephrine, despite failing to perform thermogenesis. BAT blood flow was not directly correlated to systemic glycaemia, but glucose injections could transiently increase tissue perfusion. Inguinal white adipose tissue, also known as a brite/beige adipose tissue, was also sensitive to cold acclimation and similarly increased blood flow in response to norepinephrine. In conclusion, using a novel non-invasive method to detect BAT perfusion, we demonstrate that adrenergically-stimulated BAT blood flow is qualitatively and quantitatively fully independent of thermogenesis, and is therefore not a reliable parameter for the estimation of BAT activation and heat generation.

Thiazolinediones (TZDs), also called glitazones, are a class of drugs traditionally used forimproving glucose tolerance in type II diabetes mellitus. The beneficial effects ofthiazolidinedione are believed to be caused by the drug binding to the nuclear receptor PPARγ,which in turn triggers a general adipogenic program in white adipose tissue, and apparentthermogenic recruitment of brown and brite/beige fat. Here, we present a comparison of thephysiological effects of three thiazolidinediones (rosiglitazone, MSDC-0602, and MSDC-0160)in C57BL/6 mice fed high-fat diet and housed at thermoneutrality. Rosiglitazone and MSDC-0160 caused the classically-described thiazolidinedione effects of increased fat mass,hyperphagia, and increased UCP1 levels in brown adipose tissue. MSDC-0602 and rosiglitazoneimproved glucose tolerance but MSDC-0602 did not induce increased fat mass, hyperphagia, orincreased UCP1 levels in brown fat. The beneficial effects of thiazolidinediones were fullypresent even in UCP1-KO mice, providing evidence for a dissociation between thiazolidinedioneinducedadipose tissue browning and their antidiabetic effects. We conclude that even structurallysimilar thiazolidinediones can act through distinct pathways, and that the glucose-loweringeffects of this class do not seem to rely on PPAR-γ-induced browning of adipose tissues.

Objectives: We quantified the effect of environmental temperature on mouse energy homeostasis and body temperature.Methods: The effect of environmental temperature (4e33 C) on body temperature, energy expenditure, physical activity, and food intake invarious mice (chow diet, high-fat diet, Brs3-/y, lipodystrophic) was measured using continuous monitoring.Results: Body temperature depended most on circadian phase and physical activity, but also on environmental temperature. The amounts ofenergy expenditure due to basal metabolic rate (calculated via a novel method), thermic effect of food, physical activity, and cold-inducedthermogenesis were determined as a function of environmental temperature. The measured resting defended body temperature matchedthat calculated from the energy expenditure using Fourier’s law of heat conduction. Mice defended a higher body temperature during physicalactivity. The cost of the warmer body temperature during the active phase is 4e16% of total daily energy expenditure. Parameters measured indiet-induced obese and Brs3-/y mice were similar to controls. The high post-mortem heat conductance demonstrates that most insulation in miceis via physiological mechanisms.Conclusions: At 22 C, cold-induced thermogenesis isw120% of basal metabolic rate. The higher body temperature during physical activity isdue to a higher set point, not simply increased heat generation during exercise. Most insulation in mice is via physiological mechanisms, with littlefrom fur or fat. Our analysis suggests that the definition of the upper limit of the thermoneutral zone should be re-considered. Measuring bodytemperature informs interpretation of energy expenditure data and improves the predictiveness and utility of the mouse to model human energyhomeostasis.

Leptin has been believed to exert its weight-reducing action not only by inducing hypophagia but also by increasing energy expenditure/thermogenesis. Leptin-deficient ob/ob mice have correspondingly been thought to be thermogenically limited and to show hypothermia, mainly due to atrophied brown adipose tissue (BAT). In contrast to these established views, we found that BAT is fully functional and that leptin treatment did not increase thermogenesis in wildtype or in ob/ob mice. Rather, ob/ob mice showed a decreased but defended body temperature (i. e., were anapyrexic, not hypothermic) that was normalized to wild-type levels after leptin treatment. This was not accompanied by increased energy expenditure or BAT recruitment but, instead, was mediated by decreased tail heat loss. The weight-reducing hypophagic effects of leptin are, therefore, not augmented through a thermogenic effect of leptin; leptin is, however, pyrexic, i. e., it alters centrally regulated thresholds of thermoregulatory mechanisms, in parallel to effects of other cytokines.

Bombesin receptor subtype-3 (BRS-3) regulates energy homeostasis, with Brs3 knockout (Brs3(-/y)) mice being hypometabolic, hypothermic, and hyperphagic and developing obesity. We now report that the reduced body temperature is more readily detected if body temperature is analyzed as a function of physical activity level and light/dark phase. Physical activity level correlated best with body temperature 4 min later. The Brs3(-/y) metabolic phenotype is not due to intrinsically impaired brown adipose tissue function or in the communication of sympathetic signals from the brain to brown adipose tissue, since Brs3(-/y) mice have intact thermogenic responses to stress, acute cold exposure, and beta 3-adrenergic activation, and Brs3(-/y) mice prefer a cooler environment. Treatment with the BRS-3 agonist MK-5046 increased brown adipose tissue temperature and body temperature in wild-type but not Brs3(-/y) mice. Intrahypothalamic infusion of MK5046 increased body temperature. These data indicate that the BRS-3 regulation of body temperature is via a central mechanism, upstream of sympathetic efferents. The reduced body temperature in Brs3(-/y) mice is due to altered regulation of energy homeostasis affecting higher center regulation of body temperature, rather than an intrinsic defect in brown adipose tissue.