Stress-induced behavioral and metabolic adaptations lead to an obesity-prone phenotype in ewes with elevated cortisol responses

Abstract

The underlying cause of predisposition to obesity is complex but one marker is cortisol responsiveness. Selection of sheep for high (HR) or low (LR) cortisol responses to adrenocorticotropin shows that HR are more likely to become obese. Increased propensity to obesity is associated with reduced skeletal muscle thermogenesis. We sought to determine whether metabolic or behavioral responses to stress also contribute to altered propensity to obesity in LR and HR. Animals (n= 5-10/group) were exposed to 3 stressors and we measured food intake and thermogenesis (recorded with dataloggers implanted into muscle). Stressors were hypoglycaemia (0.125. units/kg insulin, IV), a barking dog and immune ..