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Thermogenesis: where are we and where are we going?

Report of a workshop held in London 21st April 2001, convened by Professor Mike Stock

International Journal of Obesity volume 25, pages 1272–1274 (2001)Cite this article

Some of the best scientific meetings bring together just a small group of scientists to focus on fundamental questions and future directions of their field. This meeting on thermogenesis was certainly one of those. About 25 scientists from around the world met in an elegant hotel in Richmond to discuss, argue and speculate about the field of thermogenesis. The meeting was convened by Professor Mike Stock shortly before his death, with the aim of identifying major questions and future directions. The topics ranged from molecular biology of uncoupling proteins (UCP), genetics of obesity, the design of animal experiments to human overfeeding studies and therapeutic strategies for treating obesity and cachexia.

The fundamental nature of the discussions is reflected in a debate over the very definition of thermogenesis and how it should be measured. While the term thermogenesis could encompass all forms of heat production (including basal metabolic rate), the discussion focused mainly on ‘adaptive’ and ‘regulatory’ changes in heat production in response to changes in food intake, dietary composition, environmental temperature, pharmaceutical intervention and endocrine status, but also included pathological responses to disease. We are now able to measure energy expenditure and energy balance with great accuracy, even in humans but not during free-living conditions (Jebb, Cambridge, UK; Prentice, London, UK). This is not an easy task and few studies, even in animals, apply this level of experimental rigour. The difficulties of measuring (and even defining) thermogenesis has led to conflicting findings and diverse views, particularly over the contribution of thermogenesis to energy balance regulation and the responses to overfeeding in humans.

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    N Rothwell

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Rothwell, N. Thermogenesis: where are we and where are we going?. Int J Obes 25, 1272–1274 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801857

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