Of Mice and Humans: Getting Warmer for Physiological Translation

The thermoneutral zone is defined as the ambient temperatures in which metabolic rate is at a minimum, or in other words, energy is not being expended to maintain body temperature. It is now widely recognized that housing rodents between 20-22 °C is below their thermoneutral zone and up to half of their total energy expenditure is therefore devoted to maintaining their core temperature. Previous work has demonstrated that investigating murine models housed at thermoneutrality can drastically change metabolic adaptations in response to treatments and interventions, which can alter hormonal, physiological, and pathological outcome measures when compared to what is observed at room temperature. In this context, investigations in murine models at room temperature significantly lack human translatability. It is therefore imperative to perform murine research at thermoneutrality to prevent confounding factors and increase translatability to the human population.

The objective of this Research Topic is to investigate two major aspects. Firstly, it aims to explore differences in the metabolic and hormonal alterations related to homeostatic mechanisms (e.g., adaptive thermogenesis), disease models (e.g., obesity, muscular dystrophies, cachexia, etc.), and interventions (e.g., exercise, pharmaceuticals) at different housing temperatures. Secondly, it aims to assess the relevance of endocrine regulation in thermal physiology. Furthermore, the collection aims to promote the use of thermoneutrality in investigations of preclinical models with the hopes of enhancing human translation. Work investigating whole-body, in vivo measures as well exploring the cellular mechanisms underlying hormone signalling in thermal physiology will be of relevance to this topic.

We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspective & Hypothesis Articles related, but not limited to the following subjects:

• Endocrine regulation of thermal physiology;
• Temperature dependent changes to hormonal systems and signalling in health and disease;
• Effects of thermoneutrality on disease progression and outcomes
• Alterations in pharmaceutical efficacy at different housing temperatures;
• Role of temperature in adaptive thermogenesis;
• Effects of diet and exercise at different housing temperatures on metabolic and hormonal status

Keywords: Thermoneutrality, homeostasis, thermogenesis, physiology, metabolism, translatability, exercise, pathology

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.