Figure 1. Complete subdiaphragmatic vagotomy blocks chronic sympathoexcitation–driven dysfunctions in mice.

(A) Scheme of the regulatory status of the RVLM and downstream pathways in WT (green, top) and Vav3^–/– (red, bottom) mice.

(B–D) Mean arterial pressure (B), heart frequency (C), and breathing ratio (D) of mice of indicated genotypes (inset) and experimental conditions (bottom).

(E) Glucose tolerance test in mice of indicated genotypes and experimental conditions.

(F) Area under the curve (a.u.c.) of the glucose tolerance tests performed in (E).

(G) Representative images of histological sections obtained from livers of mice of the indicated genotypes and experimental groups. Scale bar, 200 μm.

(H) Triglyceride content of livers from mice of the indicated genotypes and experimental groups.

(I) Representative histological images of interscapular BAT sections from mice of the indicated genotypes and experimental groups. Scale bar, 100 μm.

(J) Quantification of the number of brown adipocytes per field in interscapular BAT from mice of the indicated genotypes and experimental groups.

(K) Levels of indicated transcripts in the WAT from mice of indicated genotypes and experimental groups. Values are shown relative to the abundance of each transcript in the sham operated WT control (which was given an arbitrary value of 1). a.u., arbitrary number.

Data shown in panels B–F, H, and J–K represent mean ± SEM. *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01; ***, P ≤ 0.001 relative to either sham operated WT (black asterisks) or the sham operated animals of the same genotype group (red asterisks). Student’s t and Mann–Whitney U tests were used for data obtained in panels (B–F,J) and (H,K), respectively. n = 13 (sham operated WT), 12 (sham operated Vav3^–/– mice), 5 (sham operated Vav2^–/– mice), 14 (vagotomized WT), 17 (vagotomized Vav3^–/– mice), and 5 (vagotomized Vav2^–/– mice).