The sympathetic nervous system in human obesity.

No evidence for increased thermic sensitivity to NE during mixed nutrient overfeeding in humans was found by the authors although in small rodents increased NE sensitivity is an important regulator of adaptive thermogenesis. Additionally no intrinsic defect in the thermic response of NE in two separate groups of obese individuals was found by the authors but an apparent decrease in the plasma appearance rate of NE in one group of homogeneously obese subjects was noted, the clinical significance of which remains to be determined.