Obesity and thermogenic adipose tissue plasticity in dogs‡.

Obesity in pet dogs is a growing concern in veterinary medicine in developed countries. Obesity is associated with the expansion of white fat, the main tissue that stores metabolic energy in mammals. Brown and beige adipose tissues, which express thermogenic uncoupling protein-1, are oppositely related to obesity due to their thermogenic activity and associated energy expenditure properties. Dogs possess high amounts of brown adipose tissue early after birth; however, its involution with aging causes adult dogs to possess minimal active brown fat. However, adult dogs retain a remarkable capacity to activate the browning of adipose tissue depots in response to sustained β-adrenergic stimulation or other inducers, such as cannabinoid receptor-1 inhibitors. Therefore, dogs retain the capacity of adipose tissue plasticity to acquire thermogenic properties, which should be considered when developing obesity prevention and/or treatment strategies for dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]