Leptin, the obesity-associated hormone, exhibits direct cardioprotective effects

Leptin: The Satiety Hormone and its Influence on Obesity

The Ob gene, which is known to encode the 16 kDa protein hormone leptin, is one of the main genes that has been linked to the obesity phenotype in humans. Examination of Ob gene expression, as well as leptin’s mode of action in the hypothalamus through an intracellular signaling cascade, reveals the complexities of weight regulation (Friedman & Halaas, 1998). Single point mutations in the Ob ge...

Growth hormone-independent cardioprotective effects of hexarelin in the rat.

We previously reported that induction of selective GH deficiency in the rat exacerbates cardiac dysfunction induced by experimental ischemia and reperfusion performed on the explanted heart. In the same model, short-term treatment with hexarelin, a GH-releasing peptide, reverted this effect, as did GH. To ascertain whether hexarelin had non-GH-mediated protective effects on the heart, we compar...

The novel adipocytokine visfatin exerts direct cardioprotective effects

Visfatin is an adipocytokine capable of mimicking the glucose-lowering effects of insulin and activating the pro-survival kinases phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (Akt) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 and 2 (MEK1/2)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (Erk 1/2). Experimental studies have demonstrated that the activation of these kinases confers ca...

obesity, leptin and leptin receptors

Hormone Resistance in Diabetes and Obesity: Insulin, Leptin, and FGF21

This an edited transcript of the Lee E. Farr Lecture given by Dr. Jeffrey Flier on May 8, 2012, at the culmination of the annual Student Research Day at the Yale School of Medicine. In this presentation, Dr. Flier discusses his and his wife's research on insulin, leptin, and FGF21 in the context of his reflections upon his life's work and his advice for young investigators.