Effects of glucagon and noradrenaline on the blood flow through brown adipose tissue in temperature-acclimated rats.

After 30 min infusion of glucagon or noradrenaline, blood flow through brown adipose tissue (BAT) from various sites was investigated with the aid of 113Sn-labeled microspheres under hexobarbital anesthesia in cold-acclimated (CA), heat-acclimated (HA), and warm control (WC) rats. Glucagon increased cardiac output in both CA and HA, while noradrenaline increased it in HA but not in CA. Blood flow through BAT as well as the fractional distribution of cardiac output to BAT increased by glucagon dose-dependently and reached a maximum level in a dose of 2 micrograms/min. These glucagon-induced responses were significantly higher in CA and smaller in HA as compared with WC. Noradrenaline in a dose of 2 microgram/min caused larger responses than glucagon in all groups. Glucagon- or noradrenaline-induced blood flow per unit weight of BAT increased or tended to increase by cold acclimation. These results suggest that an in vivo enhanced glucagon-induced thermogenesis in cold-acclimated BAT is partly due to an increased blood flow through this tissue.