Cold-induced adaptive thermogenesis is impaired by exposure of Asian sand dust in mice

• Published in: Journal of thermal biology 2023-08, Vol.116, p.103675-103675, Article 103675
• Main Authors: Bagon, Bernadette B., Lee, Junhyeong, Matienzo, Merc Emil, Lee, Se-Jin, Pak, So-Won, Kim, Keon, Lee, Jeongmin, Lee, Chang-Min, Shin, In-Sik, Moon, Changjong, Park, Min-Jung, Kim, Dong-il
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian sand dust; body temperature; brown adipose tissue; cold; Cold exposure; desertification; dust; gene expression; heat production; high fat diet; hospitals; human health; inflammation; lipids; lungs; mortality; Obesity; particulates; risk; sand; Thermogenesis; Ucp1; weight loss
• ISSN: 0306-4565; 1879-0992
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103675

Desertification and desert sandstorms caused by the worsening global warming pose increasing risks to human health. In particular, Asian sand dust (ASD) exposure has been related to an increase in mortality and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of ASD on metabolic tissues in comparison to diesel particulate matter (DPM) that is known to cause adverse health effects. We found that larger lipid droplets were accumulated in the brown adipose tissues (BAT) of ASD-administered but not DPM-administered mice. Thermogenic gene expression was decreased in these mice as well. When ASD-administered mice were exposed to the cold, they failed to maintain their body temperature, suggesting that the ASD administration had led to impairments in cold-induced adaptive thermogenesis. However, impaired thermogenesis was not observed in DPM-administered mice. Furthermore, mice fed a high-fat diet that were chronically administered ASD demonstrated unexplained weight loss, indicating that chronic administration of ASD could be lethal in obese mice. We further identified that ASD-induced lung inflammation was not exacerbated in uncoupling protein 1 knockout mice, whose thermogenic capacity is impaired. Collectively, ASD exposure can impair cold-induced adaptive thermogenic responses in mice and increase the risk of mortality in obese mice. [Display omitted] •Asian sand dust (ASD) exposure disrupts the maintenance of normal body temperature of healthy mice.•ASD-administered mice become sensitive to cold due to its impaired thermogenic capacity in the brown adipose tissues.•Loss of heat producing uncoupling protein-1 does not exacerbate the ASD-induced pulmonary inflammation.•Chronic exposure to ASD leads to unexplained weight loss and high serum triglyceride in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.