Abstract
A previous study showed that recombinant leptin markedly affects the body fat content and thermoregulatory energy expenditure of lean (+/+ and +/fa) suckling-age rats, and we wanted to find out whether leptin in doses that halved body fat of cold-reared lean pups had any effect in thermoneutrally reared lean pups. When +/+ pups were artificially reared from 4 to 16 days of age at thermoneutrality and treated as before with leptin from day 7, their total metabolic rate throughout the treatment period was only 4% higher than that of the control littermates and their final body fat content only 4% lower (both P>0.05). We conclude from comparisons of the results in +/+ pups at cold and thermoneutral conditions that leptin does not stimulate, but rather disinhibits, sympathetically mediated thermoregulatory thermogenesis.
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Received: 26 February 1997 / Received after revision: 14 July 1997 / Accepted: 17 July 1997
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Stehling, O., Döring, H., Nuesslein-Hildesheim, B. et al. Leptin does not reduce body fat content but augments cold defense abilities in thermoneutrally reared rat pups. Pflügers Arch 434, 694–697 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004240050453
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004240050453