Chronic Arsenic Exposurre Impairs Adaptive Thermogenesis in Male C57BL/6J Mice

Purpose: To determine the effects of sodium arsenite in male mice on adaptive thermogenesis. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to sodium arsenite in drinking water at 300 parts per billion (ppb) for 9 weeks Findings: Arsenic-treated mice experienced significantly decreased metabolic heat production when acclimated to chronic cold tolerance testing, as evidenced by indirect calorimetry, despite no change in physical activity. Arsenic exposure increased total fat mass, and unilocular lipid droplet size in both subcutaneous inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Conclusion: Chronic arsenic exposure impacts the mitochondria of thermogenic tissues involved in energy expenditure and glucose regulation, providing novel mechanistic evidence for arsenic’s role in metabolic pathologies. Inguinal WAT RNA profiles were generated for C57BL/6J male mice treated with either 300 ppb sodium arsenite or dH20, for a duration of 9 weeks