Abstract
The genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse has been extensively studied as a model of early-onset obesity. These mice are characterized by a wide variety of endocrine and metabolic defects including hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia with insulin resistance, hyperlipidaemia and hyperphagia1,2. The marked obesity of this mutant cannot be attributed to overeating because it remains fat even when fed the same amount of food as its lean littermate3,4. The earliest indicators of the ob/ob genotype, low metabolic rate and low body temperature, are detectable 7–10 days after birth5,6. Hypothermia might, therefore, be a prime contributor to the development of obesity because a greater percentage of the diet will be diverted to fat rather than ‘wasted’ for thermogenesis7–9. As the obese mouse exhibits hypothermia over a wide range of ambient temperatures, it has been suggested that their set-point for body temperature regulation is lower than that of the lean mouse10. If this is the case the obese mouse should maintain a subnormal body temperature when required to work for exogenous heat in a cold environment. We now report that the set-point is unchanged in the obese mouse because it behaviourally defends a body temperature equivalent to that of the lean mouse during cold exposure.
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Carlisle, H., Dubuc, P. Unchanged thermoregulatory set-point in the obese mouse. Nature 297, 678–679 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297678a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/297678a0
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