Fatty acid synthesis in brown adipose tissue of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus): influence of acclimation temperature on synthesis in brown adipose tissue and the liver in relation to whole-body synthesis.

Fatty acid synthesis was measured in vivo with 3H2O in Mongolian gerbils acclimated at different temperatures. At 31 degrees C the highest rate of synthesis was in the liver, and the liver accounted for approximately one half of whole-body synthesis. At 20 and 40 degrees C, the highest synthesis rate (per g tissue) occurred in brown adipose tissue, and this tissue was estimated to account for some 15% of whole-body synthesis at both these temperatures. In contrast to other rodent species whole-body fatty acid synthesis in the Mongolian gerbil was lower in cold-acclimated than warm-acclimated animals, despite the cold-induced increase in energy intake.