Abstract

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) may be accompanied by inadequate thermoregulation, especially in piglets that are not considered to possess any brown adipose tissue (BAT) and are thus entirely dependent on shivering thermogenesis in order to maintain body temperature after birth. Leptin can stimulate heat production by promoting non-shivering thermogenesis in BAT, but whether this response occurs in piglets is unknown. Newborn female piglets that were characterised as showing IUGR (mean birth weight of approximately 0.98 kg) were therefore administered injections of either saline or leptin once a day for the first 5 days of neonatal life. The dose of leptin was 0.5 mg/kg, which is sufficient to increase plasma leptin by approximately tenfold and on the day of birth induced a rapid increase in body temperature to values similar to those of normal-sized ‘control’ piglets (mean birth weight of ∼1.47 kg). Perirenal adipose tissue was then sampled from all offspring at 21 days of age and the presence of the BAT-specific uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) was determined by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. UCP1 was clearly detectable in all samples analysed and its abundance was significantly reduced in the IUGR piglets that had received saline compared with controls, but was raised to the same amount as in controls in those IUGR females given leptin. There were no differences in gene expression between primary markers of brown and white adipose tissues between groups. In conclusion, piglets possess BAT that when stimulated exogenously by leptin can promote increased body temperature.