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Leptin mediates postprandial increases in body temperature through hypothalamus–adrenal medulla–adipose tissue crosstalk
Rachel J. Perry, … , Xiaoyong Yang, Gerald I. Shulman
Rachel J. Perry, … , Xiaoyong Yang, Gerald I. Shulman
Published March 9, 2020
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2020;130(4):2001-2016. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI134699.
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Research Article Endocrinology Metabolism

Leptin mediates postprandial increases in body temperature through hypothalamus–adrenal medulla–adipose tissue crosstalk

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Abstract

Meal ingestion increases body temperature in multiple species, an effect that is blunted by obesity. However, the mechanisms responsible for these phenomena remain incompletely understood. Here we show that refeeding increases plasma leptin concentrations approximately 8-fold in 48-hour-fasted lean rats, and this normalization of plasma leptin concentrations stimulates adrenomedullary catecholamine secretion. Increased adrenal medulla–derived plasma catecholamines were necessary and sufficient to increase body temperature postprandially, a process that required both fatty acids generated from adipose tissue lipolysis and β-adrenergic activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Diet-induced obese rats, which remained relatively hyperleptinemic while fasting, did not exhibit fasting-induced reductions in temperature. To examine the impact of feeding-induced increases in body temperature on energy balance, we compared rats fed chronically by either 2 carbohydrate-rich boluses daily or a continuous isocaloric intragastric infusion. Bolus feeding increased body temperature and reduced weight gain compared with continuous feeding, an effect abrogated by treatment with atenolol. In summary, these data demonstrate that leptin stimulates a hypothalamus–adrenal medulla–BAT axis, which is necessary and sufficient to induce lipolysis and, as a result, increase body temperature after refeeding.

Authors

Rachel J. Perry, Kun Lyu, Aviva Rabin-Court, Jianying Dong, Xiruo Li, Yunfan Yang, Hua Qing, Andrew Wang, Xiaoyong Yang, Gerald I. Shulman

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Figure 2

Normalizing body weight restores the leptin-catecholamine-thermogenic response to fasting and refeeding.

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Normalizing body weight restores the leptin-catecholamine-thermogenic re...
(A–E) Plasma glucose, insulin, leptin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine concentrations in the fed state, after a 48-hour fast, and 2 hours after refeeding. To avoid any confounding effects of the high-fat diet, all rats were given ad libitum access to regular chow for 24 hours prior to obtaining the fed samples and were refed ad libitum with regular chow. (F) Body temperature. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, ##P < 0.01, ###P < 0.001, ####P < 0.0001. Asterisks directly above bars denote comparisons with fed rats, and # symbols denote comparisons with fasted rats. In A–F, data are presented as mean ± SEM, with the same rats studied before and after VLCD. If no symbol appears, groups and time points are not statistically different. Rats were compared in the fed, fasted, and refed states by paired ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple-comparisons test, and rats were compared before (HFD) and after VLCD (HFD-VLCD) by 2-tailed paired Student’s t test. (G) Correlation between plasma epinephrine and plasma leptin in all groups studied (data are presented as mean ± SEM for each group). Groups are defined by color in Supplemental Figure 14. (H) Correlation between body temperature and plasma leptin.

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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

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