98-OR: Cold-Induced Hyperphagia Requires AgRP Neuron Activation

The adaptive response to cold exposure includes matched increases of both energy expenditure (to support thermogenesis) and energy intake, enabling core temperature to be maintained with no change of body fat stores. To investigate whether activation of agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons plays a role in this cold-induced hyperphagic response, we first determined whether this neuronal population is activated during cold exposure by employing AgRP-Cre/GFP marker mice and found that acute cold exposure rapidly induces cFos (a marker of neuronal activation) in these neurons. Further, relative to chow-fed controls housed at room temperature, mice subjected to chronic, mild cold exposure (14°C for 5 days) exhibited both the expected increase of food intake (28%) and a 117% increase of Agrp mRNA (p Disclosure J.D. Deem: None. K. Ogimoto: None. J. Nelson: None. B.N. Phan: None. K.R. Velasco: None. V. Damian: None. M.W. Schwartz: Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. G.J. Morton: None. Funding University of Washington Diabetes Research Center