Article: Gastric Bypass Sensitizes Sympathetic and Thermogenic Activity of Brown Adipose Tissue to Cold Exposure

Authors: Yi Chu, Liping Tian, Hussein Herz, Benjamin Linden, Donald A Morgan, Meghan C Naber, Matthew Potthoff, Kamal Rahmouni, Mohamad Mokadem

Journal: Obes Surg. 2021 Jul 15. doi: 10.1007/s11695-021-05560-1. Online ahead of print.

Excerpt:
Multiple previous animal studies showed that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) induces an increase in total energy expenditure, specifically the resting metabolic rate [1,2,3,4]. It was recently demonstrated that this increase in resting metabolic rate is due to a sympathetically mediated increase in thermogenic activity of visceral white adipose tissue (vWAT) but not brown adipose tissue (BAT), at normal room temperature [5]. BAT activity has gained significant attention lately as a general marker of cardiometabolic health, and has been implicated in disorders such as hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia , heart disease and even certain cancers [6]. Therefore, BAT activity might not be contributing to energy balance post-RYGB under normal daily conditions but might be engaged when temperature changes. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of RYGB on BAT sympathetic tone and thermogenic capacity upon cold exposure in diet-induced obese mice. To exclude weight as a confounding variable, we performed our studies in weight-matched sham-operated animals.

Link to journal online:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11695-021-05560-1