Mouse Thermoregulation: Introducing the Concept of the Thermoneutral Point

Human and mouse thermal physiology differ due to dissimilar body sizes. Unexpectedly, in mice we found no ambient temperature zone where both metabolic rate and body temperature were constant. Body temperature began increasing once cold-induced thermogenesis was no longer required. This result reproduced in male, female, C57BL/6J, 129, chow-fed, diet-induced obese, and ob/ob mice as well as Trpv1-/-;Trpm8-/-;Trpa1-/- mice lacking thermal sensory channels. During the resting-light phase, the energy expenditure minimum spanned ∼4°C of ambient temperature, whereas in the active-dark phase it approximated a point. We propose the concept of a thermoneutral point (TNP), a discrete ambient temperature below which energy expenditure increases and above which body temperature increases. Humans do not have a TNP. As studied, the mouse TNP is ∼29°C in light phase and ∼33°C in dark phase. These observations inform how thermoneutrality is defined and how mice are used to model human energy physiology and drug development.