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Seasonal regulations of energetics, serum concentrations of leptin, and uncoupling protein 1 content of brown adipose tissue in root voles (Microtus oeconomus) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

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Abstract

Survival of small mammals in winter requires proper adjustments in physiology, behavior and morphology. The present study was designed to examine the changes in serum leptin concentration and the molecular basis of thermogenesis in seasonally acclimatized root voles (Microtus oeconomus) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. In January root voles had lower body mass and body fat mass coupled with higher nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) capacity. Consistently, cytochrome c oxidase activity and mitochondrial uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) protein contents in brown adipose tissues were higher in January as compared to that in July. Circulating level of serum leptin was significantly lower in winter and higher in July. Correlation analysis showed that serum leptin levels were positively related with body mass and body fat mass while negatively correlated with UCP1 protein contents. Together, these data provided further evidence for our previous findings that root voles from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau mainly depend on higher NST coupled with lower body mass to enhance winter survival. Further, fat deposition was significantly mobilized in cold winter and leptin was potentially involved in the regulation of body mass and thermogenesis in root voles. Serum leptin might act as a starvation signal in winter and satiety signal in summer.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Ying-Nian Li, Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for helping catch the animals. Thanks to Dr. Martin Klingenspor, Department of Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany, for providing the hamster UCP1 antibody. Thanks to all the members of Animal Physiological Ecology Group, Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for helping the experiments. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30430140 and No. 30170151) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-SW-103) to DHW.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining , 810001, Qinghai, China

    Jian-Mei Wang & Yan-Ming Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 25 Beisihuan Xilu, Haidian, Beijing, 100080, China

    Jian-Mei Wang & De-Hua Wang

  3. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jian-Mei Wang

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  1. Jian-Mei Wang
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  2. Yan-Ming Zhang
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Correspondence to De-Hua Wang.

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Communicated by I.D. Hume

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Wang, JM., Zhang, YM. & Wang, DH. Seasonal regulations of energetics, serum concentrations of leptin, and uncoupling protein 1 content of brown adipose tissue in root voles (Microtus oeconomus) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. J Comp Physiol B 176, 663–671 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-006-0089-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-006-0089-4

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