Effect of exercise training on the disappearance of cold adaptability in rats

Thyroid hormones and the mechanisms of adaptation to cold

The thyroid gland plays a crucial role in the regulation of metabolism, oxygen consumption, and the release of energy in the form of heat to maintain the body. Even at rest, these processes are sensitive to changes in thyroid function. This means that along with the adrenergic system, thyroid function determines the organism's ability to adapt to cold. Cold adaptation causes deiodination of thyroxine (T₄) and thus promotes an increase in blood triiodothyronine (T₃) levels in humans and animals. Triiodothyronine is an inductor of iodothyronine deiodinase expression in brown fat, liver, and kidney. Iodothyronine deiodinase plays an important role in adaptation of the organism to cold by contributing to high adrenergic reactivity of brown fat. T₃ also leads to an increase in expression of uncoupling proteins and uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation and an increase in heat production. The aim of this article is to review the available literature regarding the role of thyroid hormones in adaptation to cold and to present the current knowledge of the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying their action during cold adaptation.

Deiodinating activity in the brown adipose tissue of rats following short cold exposure after strenuous exercise

Interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) activity is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and factors that influence thermogenesis appear to act centrally to modify the sympathetic outflow to IBAT. Cold exposure produces a rise in IBAT temperature as a result of the increase in sympathetic outflow to IBAT. This is associated with an increased thyroid activity. 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and T4 levels increase during strenuous exercise, and, at the end of the exercise bout, a decrease of T3 and T4 levels, with an increase in TSH during the following 4-5 days, is seen. We evaluated the effect of strenuous exercise on 5'-deiodinase (5'-D) activity in IBAT in normal environmental conditions and after short (30 min) cold exposure. 5'-D activity is lower in rats at basal condition. Short cold exposure (SCE) increases 5'-D in IBAT both in exercising rats and in sedentary rats. However, this increase is lower in exercising animals. Strenuous exercise can reduce 5'-D activity in normal environmental conditions and after SCE. Probably, other compensatory mechanisms of heat production are active in exercising rodents.

Shivering and nonshivering thermogenesis in exercised cold-deacclimated rats

Norepinephrine (NE)-induced increase in oxygen consumption (VO2) and colonic temperature (Tc) was greater in cold-acclimated rats housed at 4 degrees C for 4 weeks (CA) than warm-acclimated controls housed at 24 degrees C for 4 weeks (WA). On the other hand, shivering activity measured at 4 degrees C was less in CA than in WA, while propranolol administration eliminated the difference between these two groups by enhancing shivering in CA. Wet weight and protein content of interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) were greater in CA than in WA. Following cold acclimation, CA were deacclimated at 24 degrees C for 5 weeks. During deacclimation, half of this latter group were forced to run (15 m.min-1 for 1 h) every day (CD-T) while the remaining rats remained sedentary (CD-S). Shivering activity assessed at 4 degrees C 4 weeks after commencing cold deacclimation was significantly less in CD-T than in CD-S and the difference disappeared following propranolol injection. VO2 and Tc responses to NE injection measured 1, 2 and 5 weeks after commencing cold deacclimation did not differ between CD-S and CD-T. Although IBAT weight was lighter in CD-T than in CD-S, its total protein content was not different between the latter two groups of rats. These results suggest that a greater degree of NE-independent nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) is retained in rats that are exercised during the process of deacclimation as compared with animals that are sedentary. This difference in NST would not seem to be directly related to BAT thermogenic capacity.