Figure 4.

Reduced central sympathetic outflow to adipose tissue contributed to the elevated level of plasma adiponectin in the ArcPomc^−/−mice. (A) Changes in rectal temperature during 4 h of cold exposure (4 °C) (n = 5, female mice, 30 weeks old). (B) Measurement of catecholamine concentrations in adipose tissue (n = 6–8, female mice, 24–30 weeks old). (C) Immunoblots of total brown fat and subcutaneous fat lysates from Pomc^+/+ and ArcPomc^−/− mice (n = 4–5). Relative tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) band intensity was quantified using ImageJ (right). (D) Plasma adiponectin levels of ArcPomc^−/− mice in response to norepinephrine treatment. Within-subject post-vehicle treatment values were subtracted from the post-norepinephrine treatment values (n = 6–7, female mice, 15–21 weeks old). (E) Plasma adiponectin levels of the ArcPomc^−/− mice in response to propranolol treatment. Within-subject post-vehicle treatment values were subtracted from the post-propranolol treatment values (n = 6–7, female mice, 20–25 weeks old). Two-tailed unpaired Student's t-tests were used to compare changes in body temperature, catecholamine concentrations, and norepinephrine/propranolol treatment effects. Post hoc Bonferroni's multiple comparisons following two-way ANOVAs were used to examine the genotype and sex effects on TH protein quantification. Data shown are the mean ± s.e.m of biologically independent samples. ∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01, ∗∗∗P < 0.001, and ∗∗∗∗P < 0.0001.