growth/size/body
• mice are significantly leaner than control mice at 2, 4 and 8 months of age
• body weight is significantly lower than in control mice under high fat diet (HFD) conditions
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homeostasis/metabolism
N |
• unexpectedly, fasted and randomly fed plasma glucagon and plasma insulin levels are similar to those in control mice at 4 months of age
• moreover, plasma glucagon levels remain unchanged even under severely hypoglycemic conditions
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• mice show significantly lower blood glucose levels after both fasting and random feeding relative to controls at 4 months of age
• blood glucose levels are lower primarily during the later period of the insulin tolerance test; however, both c-fos activation in the hypothalamus and plasma catecholamine levels in response to hypoglycemia are normal
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• during cold exposure mice maintain a higher body temperature than control mice
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• energy expenditure is increased due to increased sympathetic tone and conversion from WAT to BAT relative to controls
• however, 24 h locomotor activity is normal with no changes during the light and dark phases at 8 months of age
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• significantly higher carbon dioxide production than control mice at 8 months of age
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• significantly higher oxygen consumption than control mice during both the light and dark phases at 8 months of age
• accumulated oxygen consumption during the light or dark phase and 24 h oxygen consumption are also increased relative to controls
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• significantly higher average respiratory exchange rate than control mice at 8 months of age
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• mice show significantly better glucose tolerance than control mice at 2, 4 and 8 months of age
• glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance tend to be better than in control mice under HFD conditions
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• mice show significantly higher insulin sensitivity than control mice at 2, 4 and 8 months of age
• insulin-induced AKT phosphorylation in liver and skeletal muscle is increased relative to controls at 4 months of age
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• significantly higher heat production during the dark phase and 24 h period than control mice at 8 months of age
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adipose tissue
• subcutaneous fat mass (adiposity %) is significantly reduced relative to controls
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• significantly reduced inguinal and epididymal white adipose tissue weight at 8 months of age
• however, brown adipose tissue weight, lean body mass and body length are normal
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• visceral fat mass (adiposity %) is significantly reduced relative to controls
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• after cold exposure, mice show increased UCP1-expressing adipocytes in the inguinal WAT but not the epididymal WAT relative to controls
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• epididymal white adipose tissue weight is significantly reduced at 8 months of age
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• inguinal white adipose tissue weight is significantly reduced at 8 months of age
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• increased sympathetic activity in adipose tissues causes browning of WAT i.e. conversion from WAT to BAT
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behavior/neurological
• daily food intake is significantly reduced during both the dark and light phases at 7 months of age
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nervous system
• during cold exposure mice maintain a higher body temperature than control mice, indicating a higher sympathetic tone
• expression levels of adrenergic receptors are increased in brown adipose tissue, epididymal white adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle relative to controls
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• mice show significantly lower Agrp mRNA levels than control mice in the hypothalamus after 24 h of fasting
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integument
• subcutaneous fat mass (adiposity %) is significantly reduced relative to controls
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endocrine/exocrine glands
N |
• mice show normal pancreatic glucagon and insulin secretion in response to changes in glucose concentration relative to controls
• no changes in beta and alpha cell mass, islet cell proliferation or apoptosis are observed
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