〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the effect of hypoxia/cold exposure on white fat browning in an obese rat model. Methods Obese rat model was constructed by high-fat feeding and randomly divided into control group, hypoxic group, low-temperature group and low-temperature hypoxic group, with 10 rats in each group. The changes of body weight and body fat were observed, and the morphological changes of rat adipose tissue cells were observed using HE staining and compared with the area of adipocytes. The expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2(PPAR-γ2), PR structural domain binding factor 16(PRDM16) and uncoupling protein 1(UCP-1) gene and the expression of UCP-1 protein in the adipose tissue of rats were examined by immunofluorescence, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot. Results Compared with the control group, the body weight and body fat of rats in the hypoxic, hypothermic and cryogenic hypoxic groups were reduced, and the body weight and body fat of rats in the hypothermic hypoxic group were lower than those in the hypoxic and cryogenic groups(P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the adipocyte area of rats in the hypoxia, hypothermia and low-temperature hypoxia groups was reduced, and the adipocyte area of rats in the low-temperature hypoxia group was lower than that in the hypoxia and low-temperature groups(P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression of PPAR-γ2, PRDM16 and UCP-1 genes all increased in the scapular brown adipose tissue(F=378.495, 102.061, 322.443,P<0.05) and decreased in the perirenal white adipose tissue(F=4.555,P<0.05) in the hypoxic, hypothermic and low-temperature hypoxic groups of rats, PRDM16 and UCP-1 gene expression all increased(F=24.387, 163.660,P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression of UCP-1 protein in scapular brown adipose tissue and perirenal white adipose tissue of rats in the hypoxic, hypothermic and low-temperature hypoxic groups increased(P<0.05); UCP-1 protein expression was lower in scapular brown adipose tissue and perirenal white adipose tissue of rats in the hypoxic and hypothermic groups compared to the hypothermic hypoxic group(P<0.05). Conclusion Hypoxia/cold exposure can induce white adipose browning and affect the body weight of rats by modulating the intra-adipose PPAR-γ2 and PRDM16 pathways which lead to high UCP-1 expression.