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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The winter athlete has several potential tactics for sustaining body temperature in the face of severe cold. An increase in the intensity of physical activity may be counter-productive because of increased respiratory heat loss, increased air or water movement over the body surface, and a pumping of air or water beneath the clothing. Shivering can generate heat at a rate of 10 to 15 kJ/min, but it impairs skilled performance, while the resultant glycogen usage hastens the onset of fatigue and mental confusion. Non-shivering thermogenesis could arise in either brown adipose tissue or white fat. Brown adipose tissue generates heat by the action of free fatty acids in uncoupling mitochondrial electron transport, and by noradrenaline-induced membrane depolarisation and sodium pumping. The existence of brown adipose tissue in human adults is controversial, and although there are theoretical mechanisms of heat production in white fat, their contribution to the maintenance of body temperature is small. Acclimatisation to cold develops over the course of about 10 days, and in humans the primary change is an insulative, hypothermic type of response; this reflects the intermittent nature of most occupational and athletic exposures to cold. Nevertheless, with more sustained exposure to cold air or water, humans can apparently develop the humoral type of acclimatisation described in small mammals, with an increased output of noradrenaline and/or thyroxine. The associated mobilisation of free fatty acids suggests the possibility of using winter sport as a pleasant method of treating obesity. In men, a combination of moderate exercise and facial cooling induces a substantial fat loss over a 1- to 2-week period, with an associated ketonuria, proteinuria, and increase of body mass. Possible factors contributing to this fat loss include: (a) a small energy deficit; (b) the energy cost of synthesising new lean tissue; (c) energy loss through the storage and excretion of ketone bodies; (d) catecholamine-induced 'futile' metabolic cycles with increased resting metabolism; and (e) a specific reaction to cold dehydration. Current limitations for the clinical application of such treatment include uncertainty regarding optimal environmental conditions, concern over possible pathological reactions to cold, and suggestions of a less satisfactory fat mobilisation in female patients. Possible interactions between physical fitness and metabolic reactions to cold remain controversial.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Adaptation to exercise in the cold. 388 60

Half of the 3-mo male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-fat (DIO) diet for 5 mo became obese and had increased carcass lipid (106%) and plasma insulin levels (61%), despite 8% less total energy intake than chow-fed controls. Their interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) was 52% heavier with 45% more lipid and larger uni- and multilocular cells. Norepinephrine turnover was normal in their hearts, pancreases, and aortas but undetectable in IBAT where in vitro lipolysis, but not O2 consumption (VO2), was enhanced. Half the rats fed the DIO diet ate 17% fewer calories, gained weight equally to controls, but still had 34% more carcass lipid. Their IBAT was heavier, contained 103% more protein, with no detectable norepinephrine turnover, whereas maximal lipolysis was 73% lower and maximal VO2 was the same or even lower than controls. IBAT VO2 was stimulated by switching 8-mo chow-fed controls to the DIO diet for 7 days (which caused a 480% greater weight gain) but not by switching 8-mo obese rats to chow for 3 days. Therefore metabolic efficiency was increased while BAT VO2 and norepinephrine turnover were unchanged or reduced compared with controls by either chronic obesity or a high-fat diet.
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PMID:Brown adipose and metabolic features of chronic diet-induced obesity. 389 May 63

The activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) was studied in interscapilar brown adipose tissue (BAT), epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT) and in the heart of lean and obese adult Zucker rats maintained at 22 degrees C or adapted to cold (10 degrees C). In WAT the specific activity per gram of tissue was lower in obese than in lean rats but the total activity within the tissue was three-fold higher. Cold acclimation did not modify total activity in either lean or obese rats. In BAT, but not in the heart, both specific and total activities were lower in obese than in lean animals. They were enhanced in both tissues following cold acclimation. Six-hour fasting led to a decrease in specific activity in WAT of lean rats but had no effect in obese animals; an increase was observed in BAT and heart of both genotypes. Insulin administration has no effect on activities in WAT in either 22 or 10 degrees C adapted obese rats. Norepinephrine administration stimulates LPL activity in BAT and heart of all groups. It is concluded that the lack of development of obesity previously observed in obese rats following cold acclimation is not due to a decreased capacity of lipid uptake by WAT. It might in part be due to an increased lipid oxidation in BAT.
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PMID:Effects of cold acclimation on the activity of lipoprotein lipase in adipose tissues of genetically obese Zucker rats. 389 31

Norepinephrine (NE) turnover, an index of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, was measured in interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT), heart and pancreas of 3-weeks-old pre-obese monosodium-L-glutamate (MSG) mice and at 6-weeks-old mildly obese MSG mice. In IBAT, rates of NE turnover were slower not only in 3-weeks-old MSG mice but also in older obese MSG mice than in their saline controls. In heart, rates of NE turnover were slower in 6-weeks-old mildly obese MSG mice, but not in pre-obese MSG mice. No significant difference in NE turnover in pancreas was observed at either age. The low NE turnover in IBAT of MSG-treated mice prior to the onset of gross obesity suggests that low SNS activity may be an initial contributor to their high energy efficiency and resultant obesity.
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PMID:Reduced norepinephrine turnover in brown adipose tissue of pre-obese mice treated with monosodium-L-glutamate. 397 2

Restricting the food intake of the genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse is known to ameliorate its cold intolerance. Cold intolerance of the ob/ob mouse is associated with defective thermogenesis in its brown adipose tissue. The objective of the experiments was to find out whether food restriction could increase the thermogenic function of brown adipose tissue of the ob/ob mouse. Obese and lean mice were fed a restricted amount of chow in one meal per day for 3-7 mo. Both lean and ob/ob mice were torpid (rectal temperature of approximately 32 degrees C) in the early morning and aroused spontaneously to a normal body temperature before the anticipated meal time. Obese mice were also torpid during the dark phase, whereas lean mice were active and had a normal body temperature at this time. Brown adipose tissue was in a thermogenically inactive state (low level of mitochondrial GDP binding) in torpid lean and ob/ob mice but became thermogenically active (increase in mitochondrial GDP binding) during stimulated arousal when body temperature increased by 6-7 degrees C in 15-30 min. Ad libitum-fed ob/ob mice had a normal diurnal rhythm in a rectal temperature that was at a lower level than in lean ad libitum-fed mice. They did not raise their rectal temperatures when stimulated and no activation of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis occurred under these conditions. Food restriction increased the capacity of both lean and ob/ob mice to raise their metabolic rate in response to injection of noradrenaline, indicating an increased capacity for thermogenesis in their brown adipose tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Food restriction increases torpor and improves brown adipose tissue thermogenesis in ob/ob mice. 403 35

It is generally agreed that the site of heat production during nonshivering thermogenesis is the brown adipose tissue (BAT) and that the triggering event for heat production is the interaction of noradrenaline (NA) with its receptor on the plasma membrane. Following this initial event, several changes occur which result in increased rates of cAMP synthesis, redistribution of ions across the membrane, enhanced rates of lipolysis, and increased mitochondrial oxidation of substrates. BAT is also a target for the anabolic effect of insulin. Available evidence shows that insulin receptors are present on the BAT plasma membrane and that insulin can oppose the metabolic effects of catecholamine on BAT. We have studied more particularly the response of BAT adenylate cyclase to catecholamines in an animal model (the ob/ob mouse) which has a defective thermogenic response. The capacity of adenylate cyclase to be stimulated by catecholamines was significantly less in the tissue of obese mice than in lean controls. To produce a response equal to the half-maximal response in the lean mouse, a 10-fold increase in the NA concentration was required in the BAT of the obese mouse. These results are in harmony with those of others showing that the lipolytic response to catecholamines is abnormal in the BAT of the obese mouse. The adenylate cyclase activity can be altered by changes in the lipid composition of the diet and by manipulation of hormone levels. It is likely that the alteration in adenylate cyclase responsiveness is one of the contributing factors in the impaired thermogenesis and obesity in this animal.
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PMID:Control mechanisms in brown adipose tissue plasma membrane. 608 80

Blood-pressure and associated factors were compared in tribal and urban Xhosa people of Southern Africa. In the urban group blood-pressures were high and rose significantly with age whereas in the tribal group they were low and rose little with age. Indices of obesity including weight, skin-fold thickness, and ponderal index were significantly greater in urban dwellers and correlated strongly with arterial pressure. Dietary sodium and urine-sodium/creatinine ratio were significantly higher in the urban people, but there was no within-population relationship between either dietary sodium or urine-sodium/creatinine ratio and blood-pressure. Plasma-noradrenaline, an index of sympathetic activity, was similar in both populations, as was plasma-renin activity. Low plasma-renin was common and may be genetically determined. Diet and obesity may contribute to the rise in arterial pressure that is a consequence of urbanisation.
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PMID:Blood-pressure and its correlates in urban and tribal Africa. 610 45

The responses of pituitary hormones and venous catecholamine concentrations to insulin hypoglycaemia were studied in 12 formerly obese women with familial obesity who had lost about 30 kg by dieting. These responses were compared with those of 10 lean women. The post-obese women showed an exaggerated response in cortisol output but an impaired release of growth hormone. 6 of the post-obese women had in addition both an impairment in prolactin output and a failure to increase their venous noradrenaline concentrations during hypoglycaemia. These results suggest that an alteration in hypothalamic control, displayed by limited responses in pituitary hormone secretion and by reduced sympathetic activity, may be an innate feature of people with familial obesity
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PMID:Altered hypothalamic and sympathetic responses to hypoglycaemia in familial obesity. 612 54

The activation of brown adipose tissue adenylate cyclase by catecholamines was studied in genetically obese (ob/ob) and lean mice. In obese mice, the maximum activation of the enzyme by several beta-adrenergic agonists was only two-thirds that in lean mice and, as an activator, noradrenaline was only one-eighth as potent. The adenylate cyclase was also less responsive to guanine nucleotides. In these respects, the defect in catecholamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase was similar in both white and brown adipose tissue of the obese mouse. The enzyme in brown adipose tissue differed from that in white adipose tissue in its sensitivity to other beta-adrenergic agonists and in its requirement for Mg2+. It is suggested that this abnormal catecholamine-activated adenylate cyclase in brown adipose tissue may be relate to the thermoregulatory defect of the obese mouse and hence may contribute to the obesity syndrome.
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PMID:Adenylate cyclase activity in brown adipose tissue of the genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse. 612 56

The possibility that low sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of 8-wk-old obese (ob/ob) mice results from their gross obesity at that age was investigated. Norepinephrine (NE) turnover, an estimator of SNS activity, was measured in BAT and other organs of 2-wk-old preobese ob/ob mice, and at 4 and 8 wk of age. Rates of NE turnover were 36% slower in BAT of preobese ob/ob mice than in lean littermates and remained slow in their BAT at 4 (-66%) and 8 (-56%) wk of age. In heart, rates of NE turnover were 48% slower in preobese ob/ob mice than in lean littermates, but the difference diminished at 4 (-21%) and 8 (-16%) wk of age. Rates of NE turnover in white adipose tissue, liver, and pancreas of obese mice were generally comparable with rates in these organs of lean mice. Effects of fasting (24 h) and acute cold exposure (14 degrees C for 8 h) were also examined. In general, fasting lowered and cold exposure elevated NE turnover equally in obese and lean mice. Ob/ob mice housed at 23-25 degrees C exhibit low SNS activity in their BAT prior to the onset of gross obesity, even though SNS activity in their BAT responds normally to an acute cold stress. This low SNS activity probably contributes to their subsequent high efficiency of energy retention.
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PMID:Norepinephrine turnover in obese (ob/ob) mice: effects of age, fasting, and acute cold. 613 73


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