Regulation of energy balance

The past 10-15 years have produced a significant increase in knowledge and theories concerning the regulation of energy balance, but the precision of this regulation is still uncertain. However, the fact that investigators have had to resort to a variety of techniques and ploys (some of them bizarre) to produce marked pertubations in body weight is in itself an indication that the regulatory system can be very robust. Although control of food intake obviously plays a major role in this system, control of energy expenditure (i.e. DIT) also has to be considered as an important factor in the maintenance of energy balance. In this review most of the evidence for DIT and its biochemical origins has been derived from studies on experimental animals. Many of the overfeeding studies carried out on man are consistent with the animal work, but because of differences in interpretation and some equivocal results, the role of DIT in human metabolism is still a contentious issue. This problem may not be fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction until complete, continuous, and very precise energy balance measurements are made on chronically overfed lean subjects. Before this expensive and arduous experiment is undertaken, evidence for thermogenesis in man will continue to depend on acute measurements of the metabolic response to various stimuli. An increasing number of studies (e.g. 35, 80) have demonstrated the existence of NST in man, and the possibility that this could originate from BAT is supported by histological (62, 148) and thermographic data (130). Conversely, reductions in cold tolerance (2, 18) and thermogenic responses to noradrenaline (82) with increasing adiposity are similar to the blunted responses seen in genetically obese animals, which suggests that human obesity may also involve an impairment in thermogenesis. At the present time these ideas concerning the important of DIT in man and its role in obesity remain somewhat speculative, but no doubt this area will now be the subject of further research. Similarly, the impact of early nutritional influences on subsequent energy balance regulation and resistance to obesity will receive more attention following the report (144) that hyperphagia in rats during early life results in a reduced body fat content and leanness in adulthood. The relative contributions and interactions between intake and output in energy balance need clarifying, and in terms of central organization, the mechanisms of appetite control should now be considered for their relevance to the control of thermogenesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)