During cold exposure, homeothermic animals mobilize glucose with higher efficiency than at thermoneutrality. An interaction between the insulin signal transduction machinery and high sympathetic tonus is thought to play an important role in this phenomenon. In the present study, rats were exposed to cold during 8 days and treated, or not, with a beta3-adrenergic agonist, BRL37344 sodium 4-2-2-(3- chlorophenyl)-2-hydroxyethyl amino propyl phenoxy-acetic acid sodium ( BRL37344), or antagonist, SR59230A3-(2- ethylphenoxy)[( 1S)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphth-1-ylamino]-(2S)- 2-propanol oxalate (SR59230A), to evaluate the cross-talk between insulin and beta3-adrenergic intracellular signaling in brown adipose tissue. The drugs did not modify food ingestion, body temperature, and body weight in control and cold-exposed rats. Treatment of control rats with BRL37344 led to higher insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptors, insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and ERK, higher insulin-induced IRS1/ PI3-kinase association, and higher [ Ser(473)] phosphorylation of Akt. Cold exposure alone promoted higher insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptors, IRS-1, IRS-2, and ERK, and higher insulin-induced IRS-1 and IRS-2/PI3-kinase association. Except for the regulation of ERK, SR59230A abolished all the cold-induced effects upon the insulin signal transduction pathway. However, this antagonist only partially inhibited the cold-induced increase of glucose uptake. Thus, the sympathetic tonus generated during cold-exposure acts, in brown adipose tissue, through the beta3-adrenergic receptor and modulates insulin signal transduction, with the exception of ERK. However, insulin-independent mechanisms other than beta3-adrenergic activation participate in cold-induced glucose uptake in brown adipose tissue of rats.
