Interscapular brown adipose tissue denervation does not promote the oxidative activity of inguinal white adipose tissue in male mice

Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis is a key controller of energy metabolism. In response to cold or other adrenergic stimuli, brown adipocytes increase its substrate uptake and oxidative activity while uncoupling ATP synthesis from the mitochondrial respiratory chain activity. Brown adipocytes are found in classic depots such as in the intrerscapular BAT (iBAT). They can also develop in white adipose tissue (WAT), such as in the inguinal WAT (iWAT), where their presence has been associated with metabolic improvements. We previously reported that the induction of oxidative metabolism in iWAT is low compared with that of iBAT, even after sustained adrenergic stimulation. One explanation to this apparent lack of thermogenic ability of iWAT is that the presence of an active iBAT, which may prevent the full activation of iWAT. In this study, we evaluated whether iBAT denervation-induced browning of white fat enhanced the thermogenic activity of iWAT following cold acclimation, under beta-3 adrenergic stimulati...