LAUSR

Adipose tissue has recently been recognized as a participant in the metabolically favorable effects of exercise (1,2). In a new study by Snook et al. (3), published in this issue of Obesity, C57BL/6J mice were exercise-trained for 4 weeks and then placed on a 60% highfat diet (HFD) for 4 days. The primary goal was to determine whether prior exercise training results in altered beta-adrenergic and lipolytic signaling in adipose tissue following an HFD challenge. In addition, the study includes an analysis of both subcutaneous inguinal fat and epididymal adipose tissue, which is similar to visceral fat in humans (3,4). Ex vivo lipolysis assays using CL 316,243 and epididymal fat from sedentary and endurance-trained mice demonstrated increased phosphorylation of hormone-sensitive lipase, as well as increased nonesterified fatty acids. These results support the authors’ conclusion that previous exercise training can protect against some of the effects of short-term high-fat feeding.