Research Paper Volume 10, Issue 10 pp 2709—2722
Increased environmental temperature normalizes energy metabolism outputs between normal and Ames dwarf mice
- 1 Division of Geriatric Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62702, USA
- 2 Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62702, USA
- 3 Edison Biotechnology Institute, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
- 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
- 5 The Diabetes Institute at Ohio University, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
- 6 Current Affiliation: Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Received: November 17, 2017 Accepted: September 26, 2018 Published: October 18, 2018
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101582How to Cite
Abstract
Ames dwarf (Prop1df) mice possess a loss-of-function mutation that results in deficiency of growth hormone, prolactin, and thyroid-stimulating hormone, as well as exceptional longevity. Work in other laboratories suggests that increased respiration and lipid utilization are important for maximizing mammalian longevity. Interestingly, these phenotypes are observed in Ames dwarf mice. We recently demonstrated that Ames dwarf mice have hyperactive brown adipose tissue (BAT), and hypothesized that this may in part be due to their increased surface to mass ratio leading to increased heat loss and an increased demand for thermogenesis. Here, we used increased environmental temperature (eT) to interrogate this hypothesis. We found that increased eT diminished BAT activity in Ames dwarf mice, and led to the normalization of both VO2 and respiratory quotient between dwarf and normal mice, as well as partial normalization (i.e. impairment) of glucose homeostasis in Ames dwarf mice housed at an increased eT. Together, these data suggest that an increased demand for thermogenesis is partially responsible for the improved energy metabolism and glucose homeostasis which are observed in Ames dwarf mice.