Solano, Joel M., and Lauren Jacobson. Glucocorticoids reverse leptin effects on food intake and body fat in mice without increasing NPY mRNA. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Endocrinol. Metab. 40): E708–E716, 1999.—Glucocorticoid stimulation of appetite and leptin expression conflicts with leptin inhibition of food intake and suggests that glucocorticoids reduce sensitivity to leptin. To determine if gluc...

The objective of the present study was to examine the impact of preeclampsia on the relation of leptin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene expression in human placenta. A second goal was to monitor the change of leptin messenger RNA (mRNA) with increasing gestational age. Placental tissue was obtained from 17 premature deliveries, 18 term deliveries, and 10 mothers with preeclampsia. Gene expression ...

Galanin-like peptide (GALP) is a newly discovered molecule whose expression in the brain is confined to the arcuate nucleus and median eminence. In the rat, cellular levels of GALP mRNA are reduced by fasting and reversed by peripheral administration of leptin. The purpose of this investigation was 1) to clone and map the distribution of GALP mRNA in the brain of the mouse; 2) to compare the pa...

Leptin deficiency causes obesity in rodents and humans, but circulating levels of leptin are paradoxically elevated in obesity. The mechanisms underlying this leptin resistance are unknown, but may involve reduced leptin transport across the blood-brain barrier via short isoforms of the leptin receptor (Ob-R). Here, we first quantified short Ob-R mRNA expression in isolated rat cerebral microve...

We previously demonstrated that leptin increases uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene expression in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of rats. To determine whether the induction of these transcripts is dependent on sympathetic innervation of BAT, we unilaterally surgically denervated interscapular BAT in both pair-fed and leptin (0.9 mg/day by infusion)-treated rats. In pair-f...

The aim of this study was to investigate food intake, serum leptin levels, and leptin mRNA expression during the sexual cycle in rats. Female Wistar-Imamichi rats aged 8-10 weeks were used in this experiment. Food intake was measured during the light and dark phases (light on at 07:00 and off at 19:00) of the 4-day estrous cycle in female rats. Serum leptin levels were measured by ELISA, and le...

Leptin, the adipocyte-produced hormone that plays a key role in body weight homeostasis, has recently been found to be involved in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Moreover, reciprocal interactions between leptin and glucocorticoids have been described. In the present communication, two different strategies were undertaken to explore the mode of action of leptin in the...

BACKGROUND Leptin, the protein product of the ob gene, is produced by the adipocyte and seems to function as a link between adiposity, satiety, and activity. Leptin has also been found to be necessary for pubertal development, conception, and pregnancy in mice, and is increased in prepubertal children, independent of adiposity, suggesting a role in childhood growth and development. This study i...

Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for the GH secretagog receptor, is predominantly produced in the stomach. It has been reported that endogenous ghrelin levels are increased by fasting and decreased after refeeding. It has also been reported that estrogen upregulates ghrelin expression and production and that somatostatin inhibits ghrelin secretion, whereas leptin has a paradoxical effect. Recently...

Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that regulates a number of physiological functions, including energy homeostasis and immune function. In immune responses, leptin plays a role in the induction of inflammation. We investigated a role of leptin in Listeria monocytogenes infection using leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice and leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. These mutant mice were highly suscep...