Abnormal brown adipose tissue in genetically obese mice (ob/ob): effect of thyroxine

Lean and genetically obese (ob/ob): mice were treated daily for 2 wk with thyroxine (T4), noradrenaline, or thyroxine plus noradrenaline. T4 treatment of obese mice increased the abnormally low binding of GDP to brown adipose tissue mitochondria and permitted a cold-induced increase to occur. It also brought about a return to a more normal ultrastructure of the mitochondria of the obese mice. T4 treatment did not alter the binding of GDP to brown adipose tissue mitochondria of lean mice. The binding of GDP to brown adipose tissue mitochondria is known to be to a 32,000-dalton polypeptide associated with the thermogenic proton conductance pathway. T4 treatment did not alter the proportion of this polypeptide in the mitochondrial membrane in either lean or obese mice. Treatment with noradrenaline did not alter the binding of GDP to brown adipose tissue mitochondria in either lean or obese mice. The effect of T4 is thought to be due to an improvement in the defective responsiveness of brown adipose tissue to endogenous noradrenaline in the obese mice, known to be related to their poor cold resistance and obesity. The improvement allows a more normal noradrenaline-induced unmasking of GDP binding sites, both in response to diet and in response to cold. Such treatment is known to improve cold resistance of the obese mice, and this appears to be correlated with an improvement in the functioning of their defective brown adipose tissue.