We investigated the relative importance of overeating, thermogenesis, and uncoupling protein (UCP) expression in determining the severity of obesity in male Wistar rats fed a highly palatable diet. After 2 wk of feeding, body weight did not differ significantly from controls (248 +/- 4 vs. 229 +/- 3 g; P > 0.3), but rectal temperature, brown adipose tissue (BAT) mass, UCP3 expression in gastroc...

Dietary supplementation of butyrate can prevent diet-induced obesity through increasing mitochondrial function in mice, yet the up-stream signaling pathway remains elusive. In this study, weaned mice were divided into two groups, fed control (CON) and high-fat diet (HF, 45% energy from fat), respectively, for 8 weeks. HF-induced obese mice, maintained on HF diet, were then divided into two grou...

An energetically significant leak of protons occurs across the mitochondrial inner membranes of eukaryotic cells. This seemingly wasteful proton leak accounts for at least 20% of the standard metabolic rate of a rat. There is evidence that it makes a similar contribution to standard metabolic rate in a lizard. Proton conductance of the mitochondrial inner membrane can be considered as having tw...

Capsiate is a nonpungent capsaicin analog, a recently identified principle of the nonpungent red pepper cultivar CH-19 Sweet. In the present study, we report that 2-wk treatment of capsiate increased metabolic rate and promoted fat oxidation at rest, suggesting that capsiate may prevent obesity. To explain these effects, at least in part, we examined uncoupling proteins (UCPs) and thyroid hormo...

A role for uncoupling protein (UCP) 3 in fatty acid metabolism is reviewed within the context of our proposal, first put forward in 1998, that this homologue of UCP1 may be involved in the regulation of lipids as fuel substrate rather than in the mediation of thermogenesis. Since then, the demonstrations of muscle-type differences in UCP3 gene regulation in response to dietary manipulations (st...

It is known that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) feeding decreases body adiposity but the mechanisms involved are not clear. The aim of this study was to analyse whether alterations in uncoupling protein (UCP) expression in white and brown adipose tissues (WAT and BAT, respectively) and in skeletal muscle may be responsible for the effect of trans-10, cis-12 CLA on the size of body fat depots in...

OBJECTIVES High-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases energy expenditure and mechanical energy efficiency. Although both uncoupling proteins (UCPs) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) affect the mechanical efficiency and antioxidant capacity, their effects are inverse. The aim of this study was to determine whether the alterations of cardiac UCP2, UCP3, and eNOS mRNA expression ...