[Depletion of normal and denervated brown fat in the gerbil (meriones unguiculatus M.-E. 1867)].

Our investigations have shown that depletion of brown fat is prevented by its complete denervation. The cutting off either the spinal nerves or the perivascular nerves only leads to a partial depletion. From this we conclude that the brown fat is innervated via these two nerve paths. The depletion of brown fat is accompanied by the development of different cell types that are described as different stages of this process. The investigations eliminate the possibility that brown fat may change into white fat.