Acacia polyphenol (AP) extracted from the bark of the black wattle tree (Acacia meansii) is rich in unique catechin-like flavan-3-ols, such as robinetinidol and fisetinidol. The present study investigated the anti-obesity/anti-diabetic effects of AP using obese diabetic KKAy mice. KKAy mice received either normal diet, high-fat diet or high-fat diet with additional AP for 7 weeks. After the end...

Jastroch, Martin, Sven Wuertz, Werner Kloas, and Martin Klingenspor. Uncoupling protein 1 in fish uncovers an ancient evolutionary history of mammalian nonshivering thermogenesis. Physiol Genomics 22: 150–156, 2005. First published May 10, 2005; 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00070.2005.—Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) increase proton leakage across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Thereby, UCP1 in brown ...

Phosphocreatine (PCr) resynthesis rate following intense anoxic contraction can be used as a sensitive index of in vivo mitochondrial function. We examined the effect of a diet-induced increase in uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) expression on postexercise PCr resynthesis in skeletal muscle. Nine healthy male volunteers undertook 20 one-legged maximal voluntary contractions with limb blood flow occl...

There has been intense interest in defining the functions of UCP2 and UCP3 during the nine years since the cloning of these UCP1 homologues. Current data suggest that both UCP2 and UCP3 proteins share some features with UCP1, such as the ability to reduce mitochondrial membrane potential, but they also have distinctly different physiological roles. Human genetic studies consistently demonstrate...

Short-term consumption of a high-fat diet impairs exercise capacity in both rats and humans, and increases expression of the mitochondrial uncoupling protein, UCP3, in rodent cardiac and skeletal muscle via activation of the transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα). Unlike long-chain fatty acids however, medium-chain fatty acids do not activate PPARα and do not...

Zolfaghari PS, Carré JE, Parker N, Curtin NA, Duchen MR, Singer M. Skeletal muscle dysfunction is associated with derangements in mitochondrial bioenergetics (but not UCP3) in a rodent model of sepsis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 308: E713–E725, 2015. First published February 24, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00562.2014.—Muscle dysfunction is a common feature of severe sepsis and multiorgan failu...

The central role of mitochondria in most pathways leading to programmed cell death (PCD) has focused our investigations into the mechanisms of glucose-induced neuronal degeneration. It has been postulated that hyperglycemic neuronal injury results from mitochondria membrane hyperpolarization and reactive oxygen species formation. The present study not only provides further evidence to support o...

This study has identified the expression of uncoupling proteins in a marsupial using molecular techniques. The Tasmanian bettong, Bettongia gaimardi, increases non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) in response to cold exposure and norepinephrine, although previous studies have been unable to demonstrate the presence of brown adipose tissue or uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). This study used molecular t...

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis is inhibited during late-pregnancy and lactation in the rat. However, scarce information concerning BAT functionality during mid-pregnancy is available. The aim of this work was to investigate uncoupling proteins and leptin expression during placentation in rat BAT as well as other key parameters in the thermogenic function of the tissue. BAT mitochondri...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that cycling efficiency in vivo is related to mitochondrial efficiency measured in vitro and to investigate the effect of training status on these parameters. Nine endurance trained and nine untrained male subjects (V(O2peak) = 60.4 +/- 1.4 and 37.0 +/- 2.0 ml kg(-1) min(-1), respectively) completed an incremental submaximal efficiency...