Estrous cycle irregularities in overfed rats

Hypothalamic and genetic obesities in rodents are usually associated with reproductive impairments, but the underlying etiology of the latter is not clear because of concomitant metabolic abnormalities in these animal models. In the present study metabolically intact rats were used and obesity was developed by offering the rats a cafeteria-type diet. Purina chow-fed animals were used as control. Cafeteria feeding was associated with hyperphagia and an increased brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, in association with long estrous cycles (p<0.01). The latter was accounted for by a long diestrous phase (p<0.02). Replacement of the cafeteria diet with purina rat chow corrected the estrous cycle irregularities, as caloric consumption and body weight were reduced. We propose, as a working hypothesis, that reproductive functions are finely tuned with body temperature, and that an excess feeding-induced BAT thermogenesis may underlie the disruption in estrous cycle observed during overfeeding.