Norepinephrine turnover in obese mice and rats.

The possibility that sympathetic nervous system activity, as assessed by measurement of norepinephrine turnover, in brown adipose tissue of animals with a predisposition for development of obesity is altered has been examined. Evidence is provided to indicate that ob/ob mice, fa/fa rats and rats with hypothalamic lesions all exhibit some abnormalities of norepinephrine kinetics in brown adipose tissue. Data are needed to evaluate the contribution of these abnormalities to development of obesity in these animals.