Skip Navigation

Publication Detail

Title: Developmental programming: Adipose depot-specific changes and thermogenic adipocyte distribution in the female sheep.

Authors: Puttabyatappa, Muraly; Ciarelli, Joseph N; Chatoff, Adam G; Singer, Kanakadurga; Padmanabhan, Vasantha

Published In Mol Cell Endocrinol, (2020 03 01)

Abstract: Prenatal testosterone (T)-treated female sheep exhibit an enhanced inflammatory and oxidative stress state in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) but not in the subcutaneous (SAT), while surprisingly maintaining insulin sensitivity in both depots. In adult sheep, adipose tissue is predominantly composed of white adipocytes which favor lipid storage. Brown/beige adipocytes that make up the brown adipose tissue (BAT) favor lipid utilization due to thermogenic uncoupled protein 1 expression and are interspersed amidst white adipocytes, more so in epicardiac (ECAT) and perirenal (PRAT) depots. The impact of prenatal T-treatment on ECAT and PRAT depots are unknown. As BAT imparts a metabolically healthy phenotype, the depot-specific impact of prenatal T-treatment on inflammation, oxidative stress, differentiation and insulin sensitivity could be dictated by the distribution of brown adipocytes. This hypothesis was tested by assessing markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, adipocyte differentiation, fibrosis and thermogenesis in adipose depots from control and prenatal T (100  mg T propionate twice a week from days 30-90 of gestation) -treated female sheep at 21 months of age. Our results show prenatal T-treatment induces depot-specific changes in inflammation, oxidative stress state, collagen accumulation, and differentiation with changes being more pronounced in the VAT. Prenatal T-treatment also increased thermogenic gene expression in all depots indicative of increased browning with effects being more prominent in VAT and SAT. Considering that inflammatory and oxidative stress are also elevated, the increased brown adipocyte distribution is likely a compensatory response to maintain insulin sensitivity and function of organs in the proximity of respective depots.

PubMed ID: 31863810 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adipocytes, Brown/cytology; Adipocytes, Brown/drug effects; Adipocytes, Brown/metabolism; Adipocytes, White/drug effects; Adipocytes, White/physiology; Adipogenesis/drug effects; Adipogenesis/physiology; Adipose Tissue, Brown/drug effects*; Adipose Tissue, Brown/metabolism; Adipose Tissue/drug effects; Adipose Tissue/metabolism; Animals; Body Fat Distribution*/veterinary; Embryonic Development/drug effects; Embryonic Development/physiology; Female; Inflammation/chemically induced; Inflammation/metabolism; Inflammation/pathology; Insulin Resistance/physiology; Intra-Abdominal Fat/drug effects; Intra-Abdominal Fat/physiology; Organ Specificity/genetics; Oxidative Stress/drug effects; Oxidative Stress/physiology; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*/chemically induced; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*/metabolism; Sheep; Testosterone/pharmacology*; Thermogenesis/drug effects; Thermogenesis/physiology

Back
to Top