Figure 6.

Activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid hormone axis in N^KO mice. (A) The body temperature of chow-fed (ND) and HFD-fed N^KO and N^WT mice are presented (mean ± SD; n = 8). Statistically significant differences between N^KO and N^WT mice are indicated ([*] P < 0.05). (B) Sections prepared from intrascapular brown fat and liver of chow-fed (ND) and HFD-fed N^KO and N^WT mice were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Bar, 100 μm. (C) The concentration of T3, T4, and TSH in the blood of chow-fed (ND) and HFD-fed N^KO and N^WT mice was measured by ELISA (mean ± SD, n = 10). The amount of Trh mRNA in the hypothalamus was measured by quantitative RT–PCR analysis and was normalized to the amount of Gapdh mRNA measured in each sample (mean ± SD; n = 6∼7). Statistically significant differences between N^KO and N^WT mice are indicated ([*] P < 0.05; [**] P < 0.01).