Abstract
WHEN new-born rabbits are exposed to cold or infused with physiological amounts of noradrenaline, there is a substantial increase in O2 consumption without shivering1. Recently, local heat production has been demonstrated in the large mass of brown adipose tissue found in the interscapular region in the newborn rabbit2. Removal of brown adipose tissue abolishes the increase in O2 consumption on exposure to cold or infusion of noradrenaline3. Heat production is accompanied by a four-fold rise in plasma glycerol and a barely significant rise in plasma-free fatty acids4. Since brown adipose tissue has no glycerol kinase this rise in plasma glycerol is an indication of lipolysis of triglycerides4. The small rise in plasma-free fatty acids suggests that fatty acids are being oxidized locally in brown adipose tissue, with the production of heat. Brown adipose tissue is a very rich source of oxidative enzymes5 and co-enzymes6 and in the new-born rabbit has an in vitro O2 consumption higher even than that of cardiac muscle4.
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DAWKINS, M., SCOPES, J. Non-shivering Thermogenesis and Brown Adipose Tissue in the Human New-born Infant. Nature 206, 201–202 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/206201b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/206201b0
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