Food restriction normalizes somatic growth and diabetes in adrenalectomized ob/ob mice

Carcass composition was determined in intact and adrenalectomized (ADX) ob/ob mice after 6 wk of food restriction from weaning (21 days). Diets (2.6 or 3.2 g/day) led to reduced weight gain in intact ob/ob mice, but fat deposition was still greater, and lean growth was less than isocalorically fed lean mice. When diet was combined with ADX, obese mice fed 3.2 g/day had rates of fat-free body growth equal to ad libitum-fed lean mice but still gained more weight and deposited more fat. With 2.6 g/day, however, body weight gain, fat deposition, fat-free body growth, and protein deposition were all similar to intact lean mice receiving the same diet. Neither diet nor diet combined with ADX improved the defective thermoregulation of obese mice tested at 23 degrees C, 8 degrees C, or in response to food deprivation or food ingestion. Together, diet and adrenalectomy reduced blood glucose and insulin levels in ob/ob mice, and with the 2.6 g/day diet, the values of each were the same as littermate lean controls. The present results indicate that adrenal glucocorticoids are necessary for maintaining elevated fat deposition at the expense of lean body growth in dieted ob/ob mice, whereas hyperphagia, defective thermoregulation, energy efficiency, and diabetes are still expressed after surgery.