Abstract
Obesity and associated metabolic diseases have become a priority area of study due to the exponential increase in their prevalence and the corresponding health and economic impact. In the last decade, brown adipose tissue has become an attractive target to treat obesity. However, environmental variables such as temperature and the dynamics of energy expenditure could influence brown adipose tissue activity. Currently, most metabolic studies are carried out at a room temperature of 21 °C, which is considered a thermoneutral zone for adult humans. However, in mice this chronic cold temperature triggers an increase in their adaptive thermogenesis. In this review, we aim to cover important aspects related to the adaptation of animals to room temperature, the influence of housing and temperature on the development of metabolic phenotypes in experimental mice and their translation to human physiology. Mice studies performed in chronic cold or thermoneutral conditions allow us to better understand underlying physiological mechanisms for successful, reproducible translation into humans in the fight against obesity and metabolic diseases.
Highlights
Endotherms, such as mammals, are organisms that use the heat released during cell metabolism to maintain a stable internal temperature [1]
The results showed that, independently of the strain, mice individually housed in ventilated cages without shelter had significantly higher brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis and higher adrenal weights than mice housed in static cages or in ventilated cages with shelter
Previous studies have shown that heat production by adaptive thermogenesis in mice can triple that of basal metabolism, and it is what increases the most in other animal models [87,88]
Summary
Endotherms, such as mammals, are organisms that use the heat released during cell metabolism to maintain a stable internal temperature [1]. Research studies in mice that are housed at 21 ◦ C may not directly apply to humans, who live mainly in their comfort zone or neutrality [6,7,10] For this reason, it is necessary to understand how Ta affects metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes in mice, and the importance of this variable in the modelling of human diseases in rodents. Tb. In contrast, endotherms are vertebrates that generate internal heat to maintain a given Tb. Most mammals and birds (as illustrated in Figure 1) are classified as homeotherms because Tb is stable, and endotherms since they thermoregulate Tb through metabolic heat and the thermal insulation capacity of the animal
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