Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Yuchen He
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Colin J Palmer
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Michael J Jurczak
Division of Endocrinology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, United States
Rui Chen
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, United States
Bingshan Li
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, United States
Randall H Friedline
Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States
Jason K Kim
Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States; Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, United States
Jon J Ramsey
Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States
Maintaining a healthy body weight requires an exquisite balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. To understand the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the regulation of body weight, an important first step is to establish the normal range of metabolic values and primary sources contributing to variability. Energy metabolism is measured by powerful and sensitive indirect calorimetry devices. Analysis of nearly 10,000 wild-type mice from two large-scale experiments revealed that the largest variation in energy expenditure is due to body composition, ambient temperature, and institutional site of experimentation. We also analyze variation in 2329 knockout strains and establish a reference for the magnitude of metabolic changes. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for how best to design and conduct energy balance experiments in rodents. These recommendations will move us closer to the goal of a centralized physiological repository to foster transparency, rigor and reproducibility in metabolic physiology experimentation.
