(a) Gross appearance of epididymal fat in sham, hepatic vagotomized (HVx) and capsaicin-treated (Cap) mice. (b) Weight of remnant epididymal fat tissue in sham, HVx and Cap model after 24 h of fasting. Scale bar, 5 mm. (n=7). (c) Microscopic appearance of HE-stained epididymal fat tissue. Scale bar, 100 μm. (d) Morphometry of adipocytes in sham, HVx and Cap animals. (n=3, 10 fields per a section). (e) Total body weight, weight of epididymal fat pad and subcutaneous fat in 0, 20 and 24 h fasting mice. (n=5–7). (f) Changes in body weight (left), fat weight (middle) and lean body weight (right) during fasting measured using DEXA. (n=4–7). *P<0.05 versus sham group (by Tukey’s post-hoc test). Error bars, s.e.m.