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Adipocyte and Cell Biology

Even a low dose of tamoxifen profoundly induces adipose tissue browning in female mice

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 226–234 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background

Tamoxifen-inducible Cre/lox site-specific recombination technology has been widely used to generate conditional transgenic mice. As an estrogen receptor ligand, tamoxifen itself potentially affects energy metabolism, which may confound interpretation of data especially in metabolic studies. Considering sexual dimorphism, in this study, the effects of low-dose tamoxifen administration on energy metabolism, and browning of adipose tissues in female and male mice were investigated.

Methods

Female and male C57/BL6 mice were injected with tamoxifen oil solution (i.p.) and then housed at both room temperature (23 ± 2 °C) and cold environment (6 ± 1 °C). Serum, brown and white adipose tissues were obtained, and the effects of tamoxifen administration on energy metabolism and the browning of adipose tissues were evaluated.

Results

At 25 mg/kg body weight (BDW), tamoxifen administration for 3 alternative days decreased the percentage of inguinal and gonadal white adipose tissue weights in female mice accompanied by the up-regulation of thermogenesis in adipose tissues. In contrast, this dosage of tamoxifen did not induce noticeable changes in the energy metabolism and thermogenesis of adipose tissue in male mice under room temperature. Consistently, under cold stimulus, substantial browning of adipose tissues was observed in female mice injected with tamoxifen (50 mg/kg BDW, single injection) but not in male mice. Two-way ANOVA tests also demonstrated significant interactions between tamoxifen treatment and gender on the expression of thermogenic markers in adipose tissues.

Conclusion

Tamoxifen, even at a low dose, remarkably increases thermogenesis in adipose tissues of female mice; meanwhile, such a low dose could be used in male mice for inducing gene recombination without confounding the interpretation of data related to metabolism and thermogenesis of adipose tissues.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01-HD067449 and R21-AG049976) to M.D.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrigenomics and Growth Biology Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, and School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Liang Zhao, Bo Wang, Noe Alberto Gomez, Jeanene M. de Avila & Min Du

  2. School of Food Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Mei-Jun Zhu

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  1. Liang Zhao
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Correspondence to Min Du.

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Zhao, L., Wang, B., Gomez, N.A. et al. Even a low dose of tamoxifen profoundly induces adipose tissue browning in female mice. Int J Obes 44, 226–234 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-019-0330-3

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