Food restriction attenuates oxidative stress in brown adipose tissue of striped hamsters acclimated to a warm temperature

• Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured in food-restricted (FR) hamsters at 30 °C.
• ROS, indicative of malonadialdehyde (MDA) levels, significantly increased at 30 °C.
• FR attenuated the increase of MDA levels by 60% relative to ad libitum group at 30 °C.
• Antioxidants activity and UCP1 expression of BAT decreased in FR hamsters at 30 °C.
• FR possibly protect BAT against oxidative stress in warm-exposed animals.

It has been suggested that the up-regulation of uncoupling proteins (UCPs) decreases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, in which case there should be a negative relationship between UCPs expression and ROS levels. In this study, the effects of temperature and food restriction on ROS levels and metabolic rate, UCP1 mRNA expression and antioxidant levels were examined in the brown adipose tissue (BAT) of the striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis). The metabolic rate and food intake of hamsters which had been restricted to 80% of ad libitum food intake, and acclimated to a warm temperature (30 °C), decreased significantly compared to a control group. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels were 42.9% lower in food restricted hamsters than in the control. Malonadialdehyde (MDA) levels of hamsters acclimated to 30 °C that were fed ad libitum were significantly higher than those of the control group, but 60.1% lower than hamsters that had been acclimated to the same temperature but subject to food restriction. There were significantly positive correlations between H2O2 and, MDA levels, catalase activity, and total antioxidant capacity. Cytochrome c oxidase activity and UCP1 mRNA expression significantly decreased in food restricted hamsters compared to the control. These results suggest that warmer temperatures increase oxidative stress in BAT by causing the down-regulation of UCP1 expression and decreased antioxidant activity, but food restriction may attenuate the effects.