Abstract Brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation is associated with increased energy expenditure by inducing non-shivering thermogenesis. Ingestion of a milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) supplement and a high calorie diet are reported gateways into BAT activation. However, little is known about the effect of MFGM and high calorie diets on BAT volume. To gain insight into this, mice were maintained on a high fat (HF) or low-fat (LF) diet in conjunction with either full-cream (FC) or skim bovine dairy milk (BDM). After being maintained on their respective diets for 13 weeks, body composition, including BAT volume, was measured using X-ray microtomography. A high calorie diet resulted in an increase in BAT volume and mice consuming a HF diet in conjunction with FC BDM had significantly greater BAT volume than all other groups. Conversely, mice consuming a HF diet in addition to skim milk had lower BAT volume compared to the HF control. The data presented suggests that consumption of a high calorie diet in conjunction with FC BDM increases BAT volume in wild-type mice. This study may provide valuable insight into future studies investigating BAT volume and BAT activity in relation to environmental factors including diet.

The effects of chronic consumption of lipid-rich and delipidated bovine dairy milk on brown adipose tissue volume in wild-type mice