Effect of reserpine pretreatment on brown fat iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase of mouse.

The effect of pretreatment with reserpine (1 mg kg-1 i.p. daily for 7 days) on the regulation of iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase (5'D) in mouse brown adipose tissue (BAT) has been examined. 5'D activity of BAT homogenate was assessed by the in-vitro formation of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine from thyroxine and 3,3'-diiodothyronine from 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine in the presence of 20 mM dithiothreitol. Reserpine treatment decreased the stimulation of BAT 5'D induced by acute cold exposure (4 degrees C, 2 h) without a significant decrease in the basal 5'D activity, whereas stimulation of BAT 5'D elicited by noradrenaline (0.4 and 0.8 mg kg-1 s.c. 2 h previously) was not augmented after reserpine treatment. Although both noradrenaline and acute cold exposure increase BAT 5'D through alpha 1-adrenoceptors, our results show that chronic reserpine treatment prevents the effect of cold, but does not induce alpha 1-adrenoceptor supersensitivity in BAT.