RF21 | PSAT78 The beta3-Adrenergic Receptor as a Target for the Prevention of Glucocorticoid-induced Adipose Tissue Dysfunction in Rodents

Glucocorticoids (GC) are an integral part of anti-inflammatory therapy. However, their therapeutic effectiveness is limited by their deleterious adverse effects such as the development of obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic disease. GC-induced obesity arises from excessive fat accumulation in white adipose tissue (WAT) as well as suppressed thermogenic function of brown adipose tissue (BAT). The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) plays a key role in the regulation of both WAT as well as BAT biology. As part of this project, we investigate the interaction between SNS and GC signaling in the adipose organ. To that end, we modulated the SNS activity in adipose tissues of mice by altering the housing temperature of corticosterone-treated mice and respective controls to either 29°C, 22°C, or 13°C. Following the four-week treatment course, GC-treated mice housed at 29°C and 22°C gained more weight and accumulated more visceral and subcutaneous white fat than their temperature-matched controls. Interestingly, maintaining mice in the 13°C environment protected animals from GC-induced weight gain and obesity. Additionally, cold adaptation effectively prevented the development of GC-driven hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and hyperleptinemia, all of which were readily observed at 29°C and 22°C. Furthermore, the sympathetic innervation as well as the thermogenic capacity of BAT were preserved in cold-acclimated mice in spite of corticosterone treatment, whereas mice housed at higher temperatures showed marked suppression of the thermogenic function in BAT following GC exposure. To further test whether sympathetic activation is responsible for the prevention of GC-induced dysmetabolism by prolonged adaption to cold, we investigated the effect of a pharmacological β3-AR agonist, CL316,243 during GC excess. Similar to cold exposure, selective activation of the β3-AR not only averted the development of GC-induced fat accumulation and hyperinsulinemia, but also preserved the thermogenic capacity in BAT despite exposure to supra-physiological levels of corticosterone. Taken together, our data indicate that both cold-acclimation as well as β3-AR activation counteract GC-induced obesity, adipose tissues dysfunction, and related metabolic comorbidities. Thus, targeting the β3-AR may represent a potential therapeutic approach to alleviate GC-induced metabolic abnormalities. Presentation: Saturday, June 11, 2022 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Sunday, June 12, 2022 12:42 p.m. - 12:47 p.m.